Czech Football Association being investigated for fraud

Police have accused six individuals and four companies of fraud and money laundering in the case of a suspicious order by the Czech Football Association (FACR) to have stadiums disinfected, the police said on their website. If convicted, the individuals may be sentenced to two to eight years in prison. It is not yet clear whether the FACR itself is among the accused. In February, detectives made a raid on the FACR headquarters in connection with the order gained by former first league footballer Jiří Tymich.

Six months prior, the match-rigging and corruption scandal involving former FACR deputy chairman Roman Berbr started. In December, the FACR revision commission warned of the inconsistencies in the disinfection order. The FACR got most of the money back as it concluded a settlement agreement with the supplier. Nevertheless, almost CZK 700,000 remained. According to Radiozurnal most of the money from the disinfection contract was to return, it appeared again at the account of Tymich's firm, from which it was sent back to the FACR.

The 29-year-old man, who fatally shot his former girlfriend in the Zlín Regional Office building on July 28 and attempted suicide, has died, the police wrote on social media today.

The police previously stated that the shooter used a weapon registered by another person for the shooting in the building known as Bata Skyscraper. "The detectives are currently still looking into the case but they now work with the fact that the wounded man died at the end of last week," the police said.

In Jablonec nad Nisou, the Sluneční lázně restaurant burned down on Wednesday morning right on the banks of the Mšeno dam. The historic building, which consisted of several wooden stalls, caught fire shortly before 5 a.m. and was completely destroyed by the fire. Firefighters do not yet know the causes and damage.

The buildings from 1927 were in a poor state of repair, and for several years there had been discussions in the town about whether to reconstruct or demolish them and build a modern building in their place.

The Prague 2 district recently completed the restoration of the last part of the Folimanka park under the Nusle bridge. The new leisure area called Jammertal presents a multifunctional zone equipped with facilities for a number of activities suitable for year-round use. In winter, it will be transformed into an ice rink. 

The debris of the veteran plane Hawker Hurricane that crashed during the Aviation Day show in Cheb on Sunday should be used for constructing a new aircraft, the damaged plane owner and entrepreneur, Ivo Lukačovič, wrote on Twitter.

The Hawker Hurricane Mk.IV aircraft was the last engine of this type in the world capable of flying. The veteran was used by the British Royal Air Force (RAF) during WWII when Czechoslovak soldiers were also among the pilots. Experts said that so far, the accident does not seem to have been caused by any technical malfunction.

The plane crashed on Sunday during an aviation show. The pilot died, the rescuers treated one woman for minor injuries. The accident took place outside the airport area, and the organizers ended the show early after the accident.

The Paseka publishing house will issue a Czech version of "Quichotte," the latest novel by Salman Rushdie, the acclaimed British author who recently survived a knife attack at a reading in New York. The publisher will release his volume of essays "Languages of Truth" next year, Paseka's spokesperson told ČTK today.

Rushdie survived last Friday's brutal attack but is in critical condition. In 1989, the Iranian supreme religious leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini declared a fatwa, or death edict, on Rushdie over his novel "The Satanic Verses."

The novel was published in 1988, and the first Czech-language version in 1994. In 2015, Paseka issued the novel's new Czech translation under the pen name of Jan O. Tichy due to fears of attacks. The Czech version of "Satanic Verses" is practically sold out in Czech e-shops, though a Paseka representative said the 2015 re-issue has been sold out for some time.

While attending the 11th Prague Writer's Festival in 2001, Rushdie said the book was about England, not Islam, and complained about the large security operations arranged locally to protect him during his visit. 

According to the DESI index (Digital Economy and Society Index), the Czech Republic ranks 19th overall out of 27 EU member states in the field of digitalization of society and economy. This is a slight drop from the twentieth place that the Czech Republic occupied the previous year. The nation ranked slightly above average in human capital, however, there is still a shortage of employees in IT. With the exception of the Baltic states, it still remains the best ranking of the post-communist states of Eastern Europe.

Within two months Czechia will ban the production and sale of disposable plastic cutlery, plates, and straws in accordance with European Union regulations. The law on limiting the impact of selected plastic products on the environment, which was signed by President Miloš Zeman, takes the ban into account, the Castle said today. 

The ban will come into effect on the first day of the second calendar month after its publication in the Collection of Laws. The law also introduces requirements for some plastic products. In the case of certain products, such as sanitary napkins, tampons, wet wipes, and tobacco products with filters, manufacturers must inform the user how to properly dispose of them after use.

In the new academic year, university students will pay more for housing in Prague dormitories, by about 15 percent year on year. The reason is inflation and rising energy prices, reports ČTK. As rent prices increase driven by the energy crisis, so does the cost of student housing. This year, there is also a significant shortage of apartments reported on the real estate market. In Prague, where the demand is high every year, there are currently 1,960 vacant apartments available, which is 54 percent fewer than at the same time last year.

Municipal waste company SAKO Brno sent an electric-powered garbage collection truck into the streets for the first time on Tuesday. According to Deputy Mayor Petr Hladík this is the first garbage truck in the Czech Republic that will run on electricity. Even though its purchase price of CZK 12 million crowns is significantly higher than the price of a classic diesel car, thanks to cheaper operating costs, a return on investment is expected in a few years.