Two Syrian patients arrived to the Czech Republic on August 29 in the framework of the MEDEVAC programme. They were chosen by the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Amman and the Czech NGO People in Need for a medical treatment in the General Faculty Hospital in Prague.

After unusually mild weather in December 2011 and early January 2012 almost all over Europe, the weather situation changed abruptly in the second half of January. An incursion of cold polar air, coming from northern Russia at the south flank of an extensive high pressure area brought a sudden cooling to almost the whole Eurasian continent). During that cold spell, also some considerable snowfall occurred over various parts of the continent. In the first half of February, the cold wave started weakening first in Asia and in mid-February also in Europe.

by Katarina Subasic

BELGRADE, February 9, 2012 (AFP) - Thick ice closed vast swathes of the Danube on Thursday, crippling shipping on Europe's busiest waterway, as the death toll from bitter cold across the continent rose to at least 460.

As it has every day for nearly two weeks, the brutal cold claimed lives in several countries and killed dozens more in weather-related accidents.

Participatory Assessment 2010 Report

Foreword

This report of the UNHCR Regional Representation for Central Europe’s annual Participatory Assessment gives a summary of the situation for asylum-seekers, refugees and people with subsidiary protection in the region, as they reported it to UNHCR and other members of the research teams in 2010.

December 7, 2011 – Pol-e Alam, Afghanistan – Three projects were completed in Muhammad Agha, Pol-e Alam and Baraki Barak Districts. In Kolangar and Dasht Dellawar villages new windows, doors and gates wer e installed. In Dehnew village, a new water well was drilled.

All projects were funded by the Czech Provincial Reconstruction Team, but fully implemented by the provincial Department of Education. The provincial officials successfully organized a bidders conference to select the construction companies. The department´s civil engineer regularly checked the quality of the work.

Committee: Budgets

Plans to release €182.4 million in EU Solidarity Fund aid to help repair the flood damage in Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Croatia and Romania in 2010 were approved by the Budgets Committee on Thursday, despite MEPs' strong reservations about the funding method chosen by the Council. The direct cost of the damage is estimated at about €5.5 billion.

MEPs disapproved of the source of the funding, a "negative reserve", as proposed by the Council of

The Europe region is diverse in political and socio-economic terms, in its geography, demography and culture, as well as its public health trends and vulnerability to natural disasters. Membership services and programme support to National Societies therefore need to be adapted to the respective needs and the national context of individual national societies, and country-level plans describe the proposed activities in some 20 countries. The roll-out of Strategy 2020 and related approaches will be an important priority.

There are also areas of common concern

Flash floods triggered by heavy rains in central Europe - including Germany, the Czech Republic, Poland and Lithuania - have led many Red Cross National Societies to mobilize their volunteers and specialist rescue teams.

The German Red Cross has so far deployed over 200 emergency staff including lifeguards, paramedics and support units in the region of Saxony. Floods in Chemnitz, Saxony's third-largest city, left many people stranded and in need of rescue. The region around the town of Goerlitz in eastern Germany, as well as other areas along the Neisse

* Polish government pledges financial aid

* Dam burst compounds flood damage

* Lithuania reports four dead after a storm

By Rob Strybel

WARSAW, Aug 8 (Reuters) - Rescue workers sought to clear flood-borne debris including damaged cars and evacuate victims after heavy rains and stormy winds across central Europe killed at least 15 people over the weekend.

Heavy downpours on Saturday caused rivers to overflow their banks and a dam to burst, submerging Bogatynia and other towns in the southwest corner of Poland and killing at least three people,