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Although the most recent figures from the Czech Statistical Office gave a slightly optimistic view of rising wages in the second quarter of this year, a report in the daily Lidové noviny warns that the reality is different. The inflation in the Czech Republic is increasing faster than wages, and given the rising prices of basic goods and threats of further tax increases, the Czech consumer is left less than optimistic about the future.

An elite police unit from Brno has headed to Bosnia and Herzegovina to clear vestiges of the war in Bosnia 17 years ago: unexploded mortar bombs in the winding Sava River. Divers from the elite squad – working in poor visibility, underwater – will understandably have to proceed with extreme caution: an estimated 150 mortar shells litter the river bottom.

As students and teachers start the new school year this Monday, parents of Czech elementary school students may have more concerns than in previous years. With the general economic climate worsening, the Education Ministry has had to make some cuts to school budgets, placing a heavier financial burden on the students’ families.

This week a spectacular opening ceremony heralded the beginning of the 2012 Paralympic games in London with the themes of enlightenment and diversity. Czechs are being represented at the games by 52 athletes competing across many traditional events like athletics and swimming, but will also be appearing in paralympics-only sports such as Boccia.

A patient in the Czech Republic has become the first person in the world to survive for nearly six months without a heart. The patient, a 37-year firefighter, had a malignant tumor that allowed immediate transplantation as the only alternative. When a donor was not found in time, his heart was replaced by two mechanical pumps.

Shockwaves have continued to reverberate across the Czech political scene over the unexpected firing of police president Petr Lessy. On Wednesday, the police official was relieved of duty with unusual speed after he was charged with libel and abuse of public office. The opposition slammed the step as an assault on the independence of the police.

The 9th Fresh Film Fest opens in Prague on Wednesday celebrating new and debut films from around the world. This year’s installment of the festival features movies by British documentary maker Peter Watkins, Tom Tykwer and other Czech and international artists. The main theme of the Fresh Film Fest this year is Manipulation. Radio Prague spoke to the festival’s programme director Michal Hogenauer, and asked him what exactly this means.

Petr Lessy was relieved of his duty as the president of the Czech Police on Wednesday morning by the interior minister. The move comes after the General Inspectorate of the Security Forces charged the police official with libel and abuse of public office. The libel charge is connected to statements Mr Lessy made over half a year ago. The opposition has slammed his dismissal, saying there were other reasons Mr Lessy was fired.

Czech ombudsman Pavel Varvařovský has officially complained to the European Commission about persisting problems with issuing Czech visas to citizens in some post- Soviet countries. The ombudsman says that many people applying for long-term visas at Czech embassies in Kiev, Astana and elsewhere have been unable to even book appointments there, and that talks with Czech government officials have not fixed the problem.

General Tomáš Sedláček, a World War II veteran who spent nine years in communist jails, died on Monday aged 94. A respected soldier, he fought both on the western and eastern fronts of the war before landing a life sentence by Czechoslovakia’s communist court. But his faith in freedom and democracy never waivered, and after 1989, he took up the cause of those who suffered under communism.