Daily news summary
Police to investigate cause of African swine fever outbreak
The police are to investigate the cause of an outbreak of African swine fever in the Zlín region, the first ever recorded in the Czech Republic, Czech Television reported on Tuesday. The local branch of the State Veterinary Administration has filed a criminal complaint against an unknown perpetrator over the spreading of the disease. On Monday the minister of agriculture, Marian Jurečka, said there was likely to have been human involvement in the outbreak. More than 50 wild boar in the Zlín region have been identified as having African swine fever and hunters are being encouraged to shoot all wild boar around the country.
No injuries as Czech-owned plane goes off runway in Bulgaria
A plane operated by the Czech airline Travel Service was involved in an accident in Burgas, Bulgaria on Tuesday morning. The Airbus A320, which had flown from Brno, went off the runway after landing in the Black Sea coast city. The 184 passengers and crew were evacuated from the aircraft but none were injured. The airport was closed after the incident, which is now being investigated.
Sobotka says he has no ambition to return to leadership of Social Democrats
Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka says he will remain an active member of the Social Democrats but has no ambition of ever returning to the party leadership. Mr. Sobotka resigned as leader a month ago in the wake of poor opinion poll results but is campaigning to retain his MP’s seat in South Moravia on the Social Democrats’ ticket. Speaking on Tuesday, he said being prime minister while not heading the main government party was not sustainable in the longer term.
Czech woman dies after accident in Austrian Alps
A Czech woman died while hiking in the Austrian Alps on Monday, the APA news agency reported. The woman, who was 23, passed away at a hospital in Linz after sustaining serious injuries when the edge of the rock path she was walking on fell away, leaving her to slip around 30 metres down a scree-covered area. She and a group of others had been returning from a successful climb of the nearby Hochblaser mountain.
Asian investment firm takes minority stake in Home Credit unit
One of Asia’s biggest investment funds, PAG Capital Asia is to invest the equivalent of 7.4 billion crowns in one of the daughter companies of Czech-based consumer loans company Home Credit. The investment in the Hong Kong registered daughter company is aimed at helping its development on Asian markets and an eventual stock market launch. Home Credit, whose majority shareholder is the PPF company of the richest Czech Petr Kellner, is already well established in China with around 13.2 million clients.
Tuesday 30th anniversary of first race at Brno Circuit
Tuesday is the 30th anniversary of the first race at the Brno Circuit, one of the longest tracks used in the MotoGP series, the world’s top motorcycle racing event. Previously known as the Masaryk Circuit, the five-kilometre track replaced an original street circuit in the Moravian capital that had been used for motor racing events since the 1930s and at its longest measured 31 kilometres.
Weather forecast
It should be sunny with the chance of storms in the Czech Republic on Wednesday. Temperatures are expected to reach up to 30 degrees Celsius. Thursday should be the hottest day of the week, with daytime highs of up to 32 degrees Celsius forecast.
