Daily news summary
Czech hockey legend Jaromír Jagr one of 12 recipients of 2015 Gratias Agit award
Czech hockey legend Jaromír Jágr, historian Jehudu Bauer and the grand-daughter of the shoe manufacturer Jan Antonin Bata, Dolores Liljana Bata are 12 personalities being awarded the 2015 Gratias Agit award for promoting the good name of the Czech Republic abroad on Friday evening. The awards are presented by the Czech foreign minister, Lubomír Zaorálek, at a special ceremony at Prague’s Černín Palace. The Gratias Agit awards have been presented annually since 1997.
Albright unveils plaque to family in Terezín
Former US secretary of state Madeleine Albright, on a personal visit to the Czech Republic, unveiled a plaque in Terezín on Friday honouring 26 members of her family who were sent to the Jewish ghetto in the town during WWII and suffered and perished at the hands of the Nazis. Albright, who is 78, only learned of her Jewish heritage in the 1990s. On Thursday, the former secretary of state visited the town of Letohrad where her father had lived.
Euro 2016 qualifying: Czech football squad faces Iceland
The Czech national football team faces Iceland on Friday evening in a key qualifier for next year’s European championships being held in France. The Czechs currently lead Group A with 13 points in five matches – a single point ahead of their hosts. Friday night’s match will mark midfielder Tomáš Rosický’s 100th appearance for the national team.
Thirty-eight professors named in Carolinum ceremony
Thirty-eight new professors were named on Friday at a ceremony at Prague’s Carolinum - six of them women. The decrees were issued by the deputy for university studies and research, Jaromír Veber. Originally, university chancellors threatened to boycott the ceremony, after the country’s president, Miloš Zeman, refused to name three academics on the grounds they cooperated with the communist secret police in former Czechoslovakia.
Additional soldiers depart from Pardubice to take part in NATO military exercise
Additional paratroopers from the Czech 43rd Airborne Battalion departed from Pardubice on Friday to take part in the NATO military exercise Noble Jump 2015 in neighbouring Poland. Sixty-five soldiers left in the second group, a military representative confirmed for the Czech News Agency. In all 150 Czech personnel are taking part. The first group left earlier this week.
No bonuses for ČEZ management
Members of the board of directors and the supervisory board of the ČEZ energy group will not receive bonuses from last year's profit it was decided at a company meeting on Friday. Shareholders decided to pay a 40 crown per share dividend before taxes, the same amount as in previous two years, or about 21.5 billion in total, which is 73 percent of adjusted net profit of the group for 2014, the Czech News Agency reported. The state, which owns about 70 percent of CEZ's shares via the Finance Ministry, will receive 15 billion. Management bonuses will not be paid for the first time since 2001 when ČEZ launched dividend payments to its shareholders. The Finance Ministry came up with the proposal for no rewards to be paid. The management received 25.5 million every year since 2010. The board of directors had proposed the same amount this year also, but the proposal was turned down.
At the same time, the board of directors can still use the share motivation programme. Within the programme, CFO Martin Novak bought 100,000 CEZ shares for 56.4million in May and then sold most of the shares, earning 6.9 million in the transaction, business daily Hospodářské noviny reported.
Ústí looking into possibility of new road tunnel
City Hall in the town of Ústí nad Labem, North Bohemia, will reportedly commission a study to weigh the benefits of a possible road tunnel aimed at improving transit from the city centre. The proposed tunnel would be around four kilometres in length, connecting the centre to the D8 highway and ending at the Neštěmice district. Councillors at City Hall are of the view the tunnel should be paid for the state; no price tag has been mentioned yet.
Court rules teaching hospital made no mistakes in treatment of patient
The regional court in Hradec Králové has ruled that a local teaching hospital made no mistakes in its treatment of a patient in 2006 and 2007 later found to have a cancerous tumor which spread and eventually took her life. The woman had complained of back pain but did not meet the criteria for an MRI. The judge overseeing the lawsuit said that expert witness assessments showed that an overwhelming majority of health officials would have proceeded in the same manner. Her children had been suing for two million crowns in damages.
Eighteen-year-old dies in Domažlice car crash
A car crash in the area of Domažlice on Thursday night claimed the life of an 18-year-old boy on the passenger side while four others in the vehicle were injured. The fatal accident took place at around 10 PM; for reasons still unknown, the 26-year-old driver lost control and the car went off the road, crashing into a tree. The news was confirmed by a police spokeswoman for the Czech News Agency. Three of those injured were trapped in the car and hydraulic equipment was needed to free them from the vehicle.
Prague Museum Night to take place on Saturday
The 12th annual Prague Museum Night will take place on Saturday 13 June, 2015. This popular cultural event established in 2004 offers people the possibility to visit Prague galleries, museums and other cultural heritage sites in the late night hours. Around 40 institutions are opening their doors to visitors this year.
