Daily news summary
Macron in line for Czech visit in first half of 2018
The French president, Emmanuel Macron, looks set to come to Prague in the spring of next year. The Czech prime minister, Bohuslav Sobotka, referred to the visit after a meeting with Mr. Macron and the leaders of Austria and Slovakia in Salzburg on Wednesday.
Mr. Sobotka said the French head of state would sign a new four-year plan on cooperation between his country and the Czech Republic in Prague. A current Czech-French strategic partnership agreement runs out at the end of 2018.
The Czech prime minister also said his country and France would commemorate two important anniversaries for his country next year, the centenary of the foundation of Czechoslovakia and 50 years since the Soviet-led invasion of 1968.
Green light for lithium mining sparks protests
The Czech Environment Ministry has approved lithium mining in the Sokolov region in north-western Bohemia, where an estimated 5,400 tons of lithium lies in former tailings ponds, the news site Novinky.cz reported on Thursday.
The move has sparked protests from villages in the area which will be affected by the activity. The mayor of Horni Slavkov told Novinky he was upset that the ministry had not ruled out the transport of the mined lithium by road which would adversely affect living conditions in the area. The mayors of the villages concerned are pushing for rail transport to be the only option allowed.
Thousands of hens being destroyed following salmonella outbreak
The Czech veterinary authorities have started destroying thousands of laying hens at a farm in Pohořelice, southern Moravia, following a salmonella outbreak.
35,000 of around 60,000 hens have so far been destroyed and the market chain Lidl has taken all egg deliveries from the farm off its shelves.
People have been asked to return eggs already purchased at the market chain. This concerns eggs with an expiry date up to September 11th. The salmonella was detected due to health problems at a children’s camp.
Constitutional Court overturns “inhumane” verdict
The Constitutional Court has overturned the verdict of a lower instance court which sent a man to four years in prison for killing his wife and six-year old son in a drink-driving accident.
The Constitutional Court overturned the verdict on the grounds that the fourth family member, the man’s three-year old son, survived the accident and it would be inhumane for the child to lose his father as well.
The case will now go back to the regional court in Ostrava which is likely to consider house arrest as an alternative form of punishment.
Confidence in economy hits record high in 2017
Confidence in the Czech economy in August was the highest since the start of the year, according to data released by the Czech Statistics Office.
The August figure was one point higher as compared to the previous month reaching 98.7 points. The confidence rate increased both among entrepreneurs and consumers.
Confidence among entrepreneurs was up by 0.7 points to 96.8 points. Confidence rose in industry, construction and trade and stagnated in services.
Consumer confidence rose by 2.2 points month-on-month to 107.9 points.
Slavia miss out on Champions League after scoreless Prague outing
Slavia Prague have failed to reach the group stage of the lucrative Champions League after a 0:0 home draw with the Greek club APOEL on Wednesday night. The Czech league champions had lost the first, away leg 0:2 the previous week.
Slavia will now go through to the continent’s second-tier club competition, the Europa League. A draw for its group stage takes place on Friday.
Weather forecast
Friday should bring partly cloudy to clear skies with day temperatures between 25 and 29 degrees Celsius. Temperatures over the weekend could reach 34 degrees in places.
