Daily news summary
Czech and Slovak governments to meet at Lednice Castle
A joint meeting of Czech and Slovak governments is set to take place at Lednice castle in south Moravia on Monday. Among the main topics on the agenda will be the joint celebration of the founding of Czechoslovakia, cooperation in the area of energy infrastructure, situation in Ukraine and migration.
Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka is also scheduled to hold separate talks with his Slovak counterpart Robert Fico to discuss regional cooperation among V4 countries as well as other issues. The meeting at Lednice Castle is the fifth joint session of the Czech and Slovak governments.
Cardinal Duka criticizes Lidl over removal of crosses on packaging
Cardinal Dominik Duka has criticized the German supermarket Lidl for erasing crosses on top of an iconic Greek church from its food packaging.
In a letter to the Greek ambassador to the Czech Republic, Duka said it was an unprecedented and uncivilized act. He also warned that the removal of real crosses from churches could follow.
The supermarket giant digitally removed several crosses on the Greek Orthodox building in Santorini from products in its own-label Greek food range which is sold all around Europe.
Lidl representatives said they avoided the use of religious symbols because they didn't want to exclude any religious beliefs.
Medicinal cannabis from Czech supplier to be available in 2018
Medicinal cannabis from a Czech supplier could be available in pharmacies in the first half of 2018, the State Institute for Drug Control told the Czech News Agency on Sunday. A gram of cannabis will be sold for about 165 crowns. At the moment, patients can only buy cannabis imported from the Netherlands, which costs around 300 crowns per gram. The drug will be provided by Czech company Elkoplast Slušovice, which has won a public tender for a license to grow and provide medicinal marihuana to pharmacies.
New school year starts on Monday
Czech school children and secondary school students return to classrooms on Monday. This year, there will be around 108,000 first graders, which is significantly fewer than in the previous years.
As of this September, children who turn five by the end of August must be registered in kindergartens.
The beginning of the new school year will be marked by pressure from the teachers’ unions who are seeking pay rise of 15 percent for educators and 10 percent for non-teaching staff.
The representatives of the unions said earlier they were ready to call a strike alert if the coalition government council didn’ t agree to meet their demands for higher pay on Monday.
September to see average temperatures and little rain
Temperatures in the Czech Republic should be average for the time of year in the next four weeks, according to a regularly monthly weather forecast issued by the Czech Hydro-Meteorological Institute. Rainfall levels over the next four weeks should be slightly below the average for the time of year. Daytime temperatures throughout September are expected to hover around 20 degrees Celsius, dropping to around 17 degrees Celsius in the last week.
US Open: Plíšková, Šafářová through to fourth round
In tennis, top women’s seed Karolína Plíšková advanced to the round of 16 at US Open on Saturday, fighting off a match point to beat Zhang Shuai of China 3-6 7-5 6-4.
Another Czech, Lucie Šafářová, also advanced to the fourth round, dispatching Japan’s Kurumi Narao 6-3, 6-2.
Weather
Monday will be partly cloudy with daytime highs ranging between 17 and 21 degrees Celsius.
