Daily news summary

Ashya King undergoing tests at Prague’s Proton Therapy center

A British boy with an aggressive brain tumour who is to receive proton therapy in Prague has been undergoing tests at the Proton Therapy Centre. Five-year-old Ashya King arrived at the center with his parents on Tuesday morning and was greeted by the team of physicians who will be taking care of him. He underwent a CAT scan and a series of other tests in preparation for treatment. He is to undergo a series of 30 sessions of proton beam radiotherapy starting next week.

President Zeman calling for renaissance in Czech-French relations

On the second day of his state visit to France, President Milos Zeman was received by President Francoise Hollande. The Czech head of state said he hoped to see a renaissance in bilateral ties both on a political and economic level. He expressed regret that this was the first visit to Paris by a Czech head of state in eleven years. The two leaders expressed support for a joint economic forum which would revitalize business ties and President Hollande accepted an invitation to visit Prague. On Wednesday President Zeman is to meet with Prime Minister Manuel Valls.

Czech branch of Doctors Without Borders urging a more active approach in fighting ebola

The head of the Czech branch of Doctors Without Borders Pavel Gruber has appealed on the Czech government to send experts to ebola stricken countries. In an open letter to the prime minister, Bohuslav Sobotka, Mr. Gruber says that the developed countries should do more to help stop the spread of the disease by helping to build isolation facilities, mobile labs and sending its experts to ebola-stricken areas. Similar appeals have been made to other European governments.

Police raid open air market in Aš

Police and customs officials on Tuesday raided several dozen stalls at the open-air market in the town of Aš on the Czech-German border. Some two hundred officers searched the grounds for fake goods and drugs in what is reported to be one biggest raids on an open air market in years. Twelve salespeople were detained for questioning.

Prague City Hall checking out Uber car rental service

Prague City Hall has launched an audit into the US-based company Uber which launched its mobile app-based car rental service in the Czech capital in August. Auditors are checking to see if the alternate taxi service is abiding by the city’s rules and regulations. There are now 15 major taxi companies registered in the capital with around 4,200 vehicles.

Czech expats meet in Prague for conference on maintaining their native language skills

Czech expats from around the world will gather in Prague on Wednesday for a two-day conference on maintaining their native language skills abroad. Expat communities abroad have a strong tradition in maintaining their cultural and linguistic heritage and the Czech language is taught at a network of Czech Schools without Borders, the first of which were established in the 1930s. The two-day event, held at the National Museum building in the center of Prague, was co-organized by expats’ associations, the Czech Foreign Ministry and Czech Radio.

Press: Police probing allegedly overpriced Brno tunnel

The anti-corruption unit of the Czech police has launched a probe into the cost of a Brno road tunnel over suspicions its construction was overpriced, the daily Mladá fronta Dnes reported on Tuesday. The 1.2 km-long Královopolský tunnel, which opened in 2012 as part of the city’s ring road, cost 12 billion crowns to build although originally, the costs were estimated at 3.5 billion. An earlier audit by the country’s Road and Motorway Directorate found abuse of public funds during the construction.

Hot air balloons forced to make emergency landing in city center

Two hot air balloons were forced to make an emergency landing in the center of Hradec Králové on Monday evening. The tourist flights were forced down by adverse weather conditions. None of the 15 passengers were injured.

Foreign diplomats to play friendly against ostracized Junior Roma

Foreign diplomats from the US, British and Scandinavian embassies in Prague are assembling a football team to play a friendly against a local 3rd division team Junior Roma which is being cold shouldered by Czech rivals. Czech third division teams have refused to play against Junior Roma on the grounds that their game is excessively aggressive, but the team’s coach Pavel Horvath sees racism as the real reason behind the boycott. The friendly is to take place in Dečín on September 21st.

Football: Czechs takes on Netherlands in Euro qualification opener

The Czech Republic’s national football team are facing Holland in Prague on Tuesday night, in their opening qualifier for the Euro 2016. The Dutch are strong favourites as the Czechs are yet to win under manager Pavel Vrba whose record includes two draws and two losses. Speaking at a news conference on Monday, Vrba said the Czech line-up would be different from last week when the Czechs lost 1:0 to the US in a warm-up friendly.