Daily news summary
PM under fire over refusal to take in Syrian orphans
Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš has come under fire on the domestic scene for refusing to take in a group of 50 Syrian orphans. Babiš told the daily Právo he saw no reason why the country should help Syrian orphans when it had orphans of its own to look after.
He said the Czech Republic was showing sufficient solidarity with the countries of migrant origin by sending them money, doctors and experts.
Acting foreign minister Jan Hamáček of the Social Democrats countered that a country of 10 million could surely be able to cope with 50 Syrian orphans.
Opposition politicians from TOP 09, the Christian Democratic Party and Mayors and Independents said the prime minister’s statement was shameful and inhumane.
NATO Days at Mošnov airfield attract thousands of visitors
Close to 200,000 people visited the two-day NATO Days and Czech Airforce Days military show at the Mošnov airfield near Ostrava over the weekend.
The highlight of the event was a historical flypast commemorating 100 years of Czechoslovakia to the sound of Vltava from Bedrich Smetana’s cycle of symphonic poems My Country.
The highly popular event offered visitors an air show in which military pilots from NATO member states performed various air stunts, a display of veteran planes as well as modern fighter jets used by the army and a demonstration of ground forces in crisis situations by NATO allies.
The event’s main partner this year was the United States.
Education experts say inclusive education should be applied within reason
Education experts who met with President Zeman on Saturday agreed that the concept of inclusive education should be applied within reason, rather than across the board.
President Zeman has been a vocal critic of the 2016 law on inclusive education, arguing that it would hurt both healthy children and children with disabilities by putting them in unfair competition.
Education Minister Robert Plaga said soon after taking office that the idea of inclusive education needed to be revised and the concept applied with common sense.
He said schools for children with special needs would definitely remain part of the education system.
Former choirmaster Kulíský found dead
The former choirmaster of Bambini di Praga Bohumil Kulínský has died at the age of 59, the tabloid daily Blesk reported.
According to Blesk, the choirmaster, whose career ended in scandal after he was convicted of sexually abusing young girls in 2009, was found dead in his Prague flat.
Police are investigating the circumstances surrounding his death.
The famous choir Bambini di Praga which travelled the world over, was founded by Kulínský’s parents who were both talented musicians.
Wolves returning to Czech Republic
The Vraní hory mountain region in north-east Bohemia is the second place in the Czech Republic to which wolves have returned and started reproducing in the wild after a break of 200 years. A wolf with a cub was recently caught on camera. They are believed to have come from the vicinity of the Czech-Polish border region where a pack of wolves first settled and has been breeding since 2015.
Weather forecast
Monday should be clear to partly cloudy with day temperatures between 24 and 27 degrees Celsius.
