Daily news summary

Racist comments about Egyptians by deputy governor uncovered by Hlidacipes

The deputy governor of the region of Ústí and the head of the local branch of the Communist Party in Chomutov Jaroslav Komínek has made racist comments on facebook insulting Egyptians after a return from a vacation in Egypt in which the local politician said he and friends had been forced to pay an extra 160 euros or so for their flight from Marsa Alam.

Writing online, the politician described Egyptians as “monkeys descended from Neanderthals” and called them an “embarrassment to civilization”, the Czech News Agency reported after the racist comments were uncovered on Sunday by Hlidacipes.org.

Ústí governor Oldřich Bubeníček, also of the Communist Party, said the comments were his deputy’s private matter; ČTK was not able to get a hold of Mr Komínek for comment. The words in question have since been deleted.

Nearly 400 tonnes of foodstuffs donated in national food drive

Some 397 tonnes of foodstuffs were donated during the Czech Republic’s fifth National Food Drive on Saturday, which is 70 tonnes more than in the previous year, organisers from the Business for Society platform have announced.

Some 750 shops, including stores owned by major chains such as Tesco and Lidl, took part in the event in which members of the public donated non-perishable foodstuffs for redistribution to those in need. This year, more than 4,000 volunteers and shop staff took part in the collection.

Christian Democrats suggest Pirates proposal does not go far enough

The Christian Democrats have described a proposal by the Pirate party for the opposition to head all of the parliamentary committees as “inadequate”. The Pirates had suggested the move in return for possible support for an ANO-led minority government. The proposal was also criticized by ANO, led by Andrej Babiš. The Christian Democrats said the opposition should also head the parliamentary commission overseeing the secret service as a tool, party chairman Pavel Bělobrádek said, for safeguarding democracy.

After the weekend, it remains unclear, some politicians suggested, who will be favourable to the emerging government and who will be against. Mr Babiš is trying to form a minority government with members of his party, ANO, as well as experts, who he hopes will find backing in the lower house.

Demonstrations and cultural events planned for November 17

Numerous demonstrations, as well as cultural events, will be held this Friday on the occasion of the 28th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution, which led to the fall of communism in Czechoslovakia, and 78 years the brutal oppression of Czech students by the Nazis in 1939.

On the day, the Czech police will be expected to keep ultra-right and leftist extremists from clashing. Prague Municipal Police spokesman Tomáš Hulan said the details of concrete measures would be revealed over the next several days. On Friday, right-wing extremists are planning a march on Prague’s Narodní třída, where in 1989 the police moved against student protestors, sparking the Velvet Revolution.

A cultural event celebrating democracy and freedom will feature music by Jiří Schmitzer, Laco Deczi and the band Zrní.

Rescue crews, police divers called after car plunges into Labe River

Rescue crews, police divers called after car plunges into Labe River Emergency crews including police divers were called to the district of Rozbělesy, Děčín, on Monday after a vehicle broke through a road barrier, according to witnesses, and plunged into the Labe River. The accident took place shortly before 10 am. The vehicle was not immediately found but was recovered later by crane.

One person was found dead inside. The death is being investigated by the police.

Road conditions appear to not to have been a factor in the accident; while there was snowfall overnight, it was at higher levels in the Ore Mountains (Krušné hory).

Czech mountains see first heavy snowfall

Heavy snowfall on Sunday night and Monday morning complicated traffic in some parts of the country. Around five centimetres of snow fell overnight in the Šumava mountains and in the Vysočina region.

Jeseníky Mountains in the north east of the country saw around ten centimetres of fresh snow and further snowfall is expected during the day.

Weather

Tuesday should be mostly overcast with some sunny periods. Daytimes highs are expected to reach only 4 degrees Celsius.