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The Czech government on Wednesday approved a 1.5 billion-euro loan to the IMF as part of the EU’s efforts to contain the debt crisis in the euro zone. The cabinet will now approach the Czech central bank to release the funds, and will provide guarantees for the loan, part of a 200 billion euro package to rescue the single European currency. The Czech Parliament has yet to approve the deal.

In December, EU leaders agreed to lend 200 billion euro to the International Monetary Fund in an attempt to ward off the bloc’s debt crisis. The EU asked the Czech Republic to contribute some 3.5 billion euro to the loan; an amount deemed too high by the country’s cabinet.

The government on Wednesday also gave conditional approval for the Czech Republic to join the euro zone’s planned fiscal compact. The ministers said the deal first needed to be finalized before it is approved in a referendum or by a constitutional majority in the Czech Parliament. The issue whether or not the country should join the planned fiscal union has created tensions on the Czech political scene. The coalition Civic Democrat and Public Affairs parties have taken a reserved stance to the plan and push for it to be approved in a popular vote. Cabinet ministers for the third coalition party, TOP 09, believe an approval by Parliament would suffice. The eurosceptic Czech president, Václav Klaus, had earlier warned he would oppose such a move.

A new poll of voting preferences suggests a five-percent surge by the senior coalition Civic Democrat party. The survey by the STEM agency puts the opposition Social Democrats in front with 34 percent of votes; the Civic Democrats came in second with 23.5 percent of the votes which is 5 percent more than in the previous poll which took place in December. Support for the coalition TOP 09 party decreased slightly to 17.5 percent while the third coalition party, the Public Affairs, would remain outside the lower house with 4 percent of votes. Support for the communist party dropped significantly to 12.5 percent, down by 4.5 percent from the previous survey.

A 51-year-old female patient committed suicide on Friday by strangling herself in a caged bed at a psychiatric hospital in Dobřany, in western Bohemia, the daily Právo has reported. A police spokesman said the woman tore a hole in the net and strangled herself, just hours after she was placed in the caged bed. The hospital’s director said the woman’s condition deteriorated on Friday and she had become increasingly restless; the doctor in charge of the ward decided to place her in the netted bed. The director of the hospital added the patient’s state did not require continuous supervision.

The Czech Republic has been criticized over the use of caged beds by a number of international human rights groups. In 2007, the government banned their use in social care institutions; however, they are still used in psychiatric hospitals which follow regulations established by the Czech Ministry of Health.

The police have launched a probe into corruption allegations surrounding Martin Dvořák, the former boss of the Prague public transport company, the news website aktualne.cz reported on Wednesday. Mr Dvořák faces allegations that dozens of millions of crowns were siphoned from the city-owned firm during his term as director; his mother then bought expensive real estate in Prague in a non-transparent deal involving several off-shore companies as well as a Prague law firm linked to lobbyists at the City Hall. Mr Dvořák and his mother have rejected any wrongdoing.

The mining firm Czech Coal has accused its employees of embezzling at least 100 million crowns worth of coal. In a statement released on Wednesday, the company said an internal audit found the staff of its sales department had for years been “severely underpriced” coal to trading firms, some of which had ties to its employees. Czech Coal will close down its entire sales department as a result, and is going to file for criminal proceedings to be launched against those responsible.

An appellate court in Olomouc on Wednesday upheld 18-year prison sentences for two Polish citizens who murdered their 49-year-old compatriot in Velké Meziříčí, some 150 km east of Prague, in January 2011. The two men severely beat the victim in a hotel room; after they left, the man bled to death. After serving their sentences, both Poles will also be expelled indefinitely from the Czech Republic.

The Czech Office for the Protection of Competition will review plans to close off the country’s top hockey league, the office’s head Petr Rafaj said on Wednesday. Mr Rafaj said his office was going to probe a possible cartel by hockey clubs; most members of the Czech Professional Ice Hockey Clubs’ Association voted in December to explore the possibility of closing the extraliga off to new teams, citing economic reasons and higher quality of the competition. The plans have come under criticism from sports journalists and fans who prefer to retain the league’s current system of promotion and relegation.

Czech art collector Meda Mládková on Wednesday presented new acquisitions of works by the painter František Kupka. Ms Mládková said her foundation paid around 500,000 US dollars for some 40 pieces by the pioneer of abstract art, mostly early graphic works and several paintings. They come from the collection of the US art historian Lilli Lonngren Anders who obtained them directly from the author. The new acquisitions will be featured in Prague’s Kampa Museum, established by Ms Mládková in 2003.

The former owner of a miniature chihuahua which was once listed as the world’s smallest dog has to apologize to a vet who treated the animal for having accused him of its death. The Constitutional Court has upheld a previous verdict in favour of the vet who sued the owner, Miloslava Vašíčková, for her claims. The chihuahua, which was formerly listed as the world’s smallest dog in the Guinness Book of World Records, had to be put down in 2001. The woman then sued the vet for having caused the dog’s death, a claim rejected by the top court in 2010.