Daily news summary
Speaker of lower house to represent Czech Republic at Warsaw talks with President Trump
The Speaker of the lower house of Parliament Jan Hamáček will represent the Czech Republic at next week’s meeting in Warsaw between US President Donald Trump and counties of Central and Eastern Europe, Czech Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Michaela Lagronová announced on Saturday. The aim of Trump’s visit is to promote U.S. natural gas exports in a region heavily reliant on Russian crude oil supplies. The Trump administration sees growth in LNG exports as a way to reduce trade deficits with other nations and expand the economy.
Thousands of civil servants to get wage hike
More than 200 thousand civil servants will get a wage hike as of July 1st. The hike concerns police officers, soldiers, nurses, fire fighters, prison guards and several other professions which the government considers to be underpaid. The 7 to 10 percent wage hike corresponds to an increase of some 2,000 to 3,000 crowns a month and will require an additional four billion crowns from state coffers.
Special police unit to deal with airline security
A special police unit will be set up to deal with airline security, the ctk news agency reported citing a government report. The unit should start with 14 officers next year and have 42 members by 2021. The government has earmarked 130 million crowns for the setting up of the unit and reckons with 20 million crown expenditures annually. The airline security specialists are expected to check out millions of passengers annually and will cooperate closely with similar units abroad.
Karlovy Vary International Film Festival opens with special awards ceremony
The 52nd Karlovy Vary International Film Festival opened with a traditional gala ceremony on Friday night at which the festival’s main prize, the Crystal Globe for outstanding artistic contribution to world cinema, was awarded to the leading Hollywood composer James Newton Howard. This year’s VIP celebrities, actress Uma Thurman, best known for Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill movies, and Casey Affleck, who won the Oscar for Best Actor this year for Manchester by the Sea, both received the President’s Award. The festival, which closes on July 8, will screen over 150 movies, some of which will have their world premiere in the West Bohemian spa town.
Werich villa opens to public
The newly reconstructed Werich villa on Prague’s Kampa, once the home of the famous Czech actor Jan Werich, opened to the public on Friday evening. The villa was reconstructed by the Prague city hall after being severely damaged by floods over a decade ago and is now leased by the Jan and Meda Mládek Foundation, which has turned it into the Voskovec and Werich Arts and Social Centre in honour of the great Czech acting duo. Visitors will be able to view many of Werich’s personal belongings as well as costumes from his films. The centre will also offer lectures, exhibitions and other events. Actor Jan Werich lived in the villa from 1945 until his death in 1980.
Plískova wins Eastbourne title
World number three Karolina Plíkova beat Caroline Wozniacki 6-4 6-4 to win the Aegon International at Eastbourne for the first time on Saturday. It was the 25-year-old Czech third seed's ninth title as she prepares for the start of Wimbledon on Monday. The last Czech player to win the Eastbourne title was Jana Novotná in 1998, who then went on to triumph at Wimbledon two weeks later.
Weather forecast
Sunday should be partly cloudy with intervals of rain and shine and day temperatures around 21 degrees Celsius.
