>>> Dozens of Romanian Roma have left Prague, taking the remains of their young prince with them. Treatment worth CZK 1 million at Prague’s Vinohrady hospital was unable to save the teenager’s life.
>>> A 9-year-old giraffe named Kasunga died at Prague Zoo last Thursday after a routine surgery, local press reported Saturday. “I grew up in the country and I know that when a cow died in a family, they spoke about it even dozens of years afterwards. It was a family tragedy,” ČSSD head Jiří Paroubek told Mf Dnes, reminiscing his childhood in talks with farmers in southern Moravia. Runaway horses hurt a man in the Hodonín district on Saturday, Právo reported. The “Kangaroos”, or the Bohemians 1905 football club, drew with Sparta 0:0 on Friday.
>>> More and more Czech tourists who do not want to spend money on a holiday abroad are heading to south Bohemia, Lidové noviny reported Monday. Restaurants in České Budějovice are charging higher prices for beer and coffee served in their gardens than indoors, Mfd learnt.
>>> ODS head Mirek Topolánek’s return flight from his holiday in Tuscany cost his party CZK 150,000, ODS said Wednesday. The previous day the party made public the rental contract for the Tuscan villa where Topolánek and his lobbyist friend Marek Dalík spent their holiday. Allegations that the villa is ultimately connected to investment group J&T remain unproven.
>>> After his yachting holiday, Topolánek went biking in southern Moravia. He plans to tour the region as part of his election campaign. The roadmap for the electronic state treasury has been completed, Finance Ministry announced on Tuesday.
>>> “From the Lefties? Never!” cried a young woman in Brno in response to an offer by Social Democrats who were distributing orange roses as part of the party’s election campaign. ODS Deputy Chairman Ivan Langer has said the Social Democrats’ and Communists’ election platforms are almost identical, Právo reported Wednesday.
>>> The ODS on Wednesday introduced a new logo which depicts white bird in a blue heart. The party is also distributing condoms with the logo and the slogan “Against infection by another party”.
>>> Vaccination against swine flu will start at the turn of November and December, the country’s chief health official Michael Vít said. Doctors expect an outbreak before then.
>>> A doctor from Brno’s St Anne’s hospital was caught taking kickbacks from pharmaceutical company Novartis for prescribing its drugs. Czech dermatologists have demanded that children and youth be banned from tanning beds.
>>> Heavy thunderstorms with hail and strong winds hit the Central and South Bohemia regions on Sunday.
>>> Beer production fell by more than 6% in the first half of 2009, according to initial estimates by the Czech Beer and Malt Association. Rosé wine is the hit of this summer, Lidové noviny reported Saturday.
>>> Two Prague police helped to deliver a baby girl in a car parked on a Prague street last Thursday night. KDU-ČSL wants to increase taxes for the childless after the elections. Some 6% to 8% of Czech women do not want children, research by Charles University and the Labour and Social Affairs Ministry has shown.
