Daily news summary
Czech mixed doubles team secures another bronze medal for Czech Republic
In tennis, Czech team Lucie Hradecká and Radek Štěpánek have won a bronze medal in the mixed doubles at the Olympic Games in Rio and secured a sixth medal for the Czech Republic. The Czech pair defeated their Indian opponents Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna in straights sets in just over an hour; the final score was 6:1, 7:5.
Hundreds of people commemorate priests and monks interned in Želiv in 1950s
Several hundred people gathered in the Želiv monastery on Sunday to commemorate the 464 priests and monks, who were imprisoned there under the Communist Regime. The gathering started with a mass celebrated by Cardinal Dominik Duka and abbot Jáchym Jaroslav Šimek. The Monastery in Želiv was turned into an internment camp in the 1950s. Among the people who were interned there was Cardinal František Tomášek and Archbishop Karel Otčenášek.
Politicians to get an eight-percent pay rise
Politicians can expect a pay rise by around eight percent next year. This is due to the fact that the average wage in the non-business sector, on which the parliamentarian’s salary is base, has increased as well. Monthly wage of a senator could rise next year from current 65,000 crowns to 71,000, while the deputies could get around 66,000 crowns a month. The monthly wage of the president is expected to increase by more than 17,000 to 236,000.
Day of Jewish Monuments held around Czech Republic
The first Day of Jewish Monuments is held in the Czech Republic on Sunday. Over 40 heritage sites around the country, including synagogues, Jewish cemeteries and other buildings, will be open to visitors for a reduced fee. Among them are ten synagogues and Jewish buildings recently reconstructed under the “Ten Stars project.” The event is organised by Jewish community in Prague and coincides with the fast day of Tisha B’av, a day of mourning in Jewish religious tradition commemorating the destruction of the Temple.
Brutal Assault festival attracted 18,000 visitors
Some 18,000 people visited the annual open-air Brutal Assault music festival, which takes place at an old army fortress in Jaroměř, some 130 kilometres east of Prague. The 20th edition of the festival, which focuses on extreme metal, got underway on Thursday and featured over a hundred bands from all over the world.
Šafářová and Strýcová clinch bronze in women’s doubles
In the women’s doubles competition, two Czech teams fought for the bronze medal. In the end, the duo Lucie Šafářová and Barbora Strýcová defeated Andrea Hlaváčková and Lucie Hradecká 7:5, 6:1. Hlaváčková played with a fractured orbital bone, an injury she suffered in the semi-finals after Switzerland's Martina Hingis crushed a swinging volley into her face.
Lucie Hradecká,alongside Radek Štěpánek, will also fight for the bronze in mixed doubles. The Czechs lost in the semi-finals against the US duo Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Jack Sock 6:4, 7:6 (7:3) and will face the Indian pairing of Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna in their last match.
Petra Kvitová wins bronze medal in Rio
Petra Kvitová has won the Olympic bronze medal in women's tennis at the Olympic Games in Rio. The two-time Wimbledon champion beat American Madison Keys 7:5, 2:6, 6:2 on Saturday running away with the third set after dropping the last four games of the second. Kvitová, who had not been beyond the quarterfinals of a major tournament since her second Wimbledon win in 2014, said having a medal from the Olympics is one of the best things that has happened in her career.
