Czech morning news roundup: Thursday, October 28, 2021

Detectives from the National Center against Organized Crime have opened investigations of President Miloš Zeman's close associates. The investigations cover two separate cases: one relating to a denial of help, and another concerned with a possible appropriation of power by a state official.

The investigations come as a response to a series of criminal complaints recently filed with the state attorney's office claiming that Zeman’s aides forged his signature on a crucial document calling the next parliament for its first session on November 8.

Investigators will also look into a possible failure to provide help for the President while he was staying at his residence in Lány prior to being hospitalized on October 10. If convicted, perpetrators may face up to two years in prison. (ČTK)

South Moravia regional governor Jan Grolich gave a cross made from a fallen beam of a tornado-ravaged South Moravian church to the Pope in the Vatican Wednesday. The damaged church has become one of the symbols of the destruction in Moravská Nová, the hardest-hit area in the storm that killed six and cause billions in damage. Pope Francis blessed five additional crosses made from similar beams that will be given to the municipalities ravaged by the tornado. (ČTK)

Today, the Czech Republic commemorates the anniversary of the founding of the independent republic in 1918. Ceremonial events will take place at Prague's Vítkov Hill and at the statue of first Czechoslovak president Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk. Due to the hospitalization of President Miloš Zeman, the annual evening presentation of the highest state honors and appointment of new generals has been postponed. Prague Castle will publish the list on its website in the evening. (ČTK)

Prague airport's winter flight schedule goes into effect from Sunday. Passengers will be able to fly from Prague Airport to 92 destinations including new routes to Tel Aviv, Naples, Odesa, Kyiv, Dubai, and Amsterdam. A total of 47 airlines, including the launch of the German low-cost carrier Eurowings, will fly from Prague this winter. This year's winter flight schedule is slightly narrower than in pre-crisis years, with 120 flights taking off from Prague in 2019.

A new system for rating the nutritional value of food should come into the Czech Republic next year. In an effort to create easier-to-decipher food packaging, a platform called Pro Nutri-score has been launched comprised of medical professionals and food manufacturers. The platform presented its new labeling system at a press conference this week. The color-coded system describes the nutritional makeup of the product contains and how it affects consumer health. The Ministry of Health supports the new system but some food manufacturers are skeptical.

On Tuesday afternoon police received an emergency call from a resident who had been bit by a dog in the Častolovice area. Before the patrol arrived, the dog attacked and bit an 11-year-old child. The child is in the hospital with minor injuries, the dog was euthanized.