News

First round of Senate by-election produces no winners

The first round of the Senate by-election in the Prague 4 and Znojmo constituencies has not produced clear winners. In the second round next week, Civic Democrat Frantisek Prihoda will face Erazim Kohak, who is running for the Social Democrats, at Prague 4. In the Znojmo constituency the two contenders will be Jaroslav Parik, running for the Civic Democrats, and Milan Spacek, a candidate for the Christian Democrats. The two seats in the Senate were recently vacated after Senators Josef Zieleniec and Vladimir Zelezny became Euro-MPs in the Czech Republic's first ever European elections.

Nobel Peace Prize laureate to speak at conference in Prague

The fresh Nobel Peace Prize laureate, the Kenyan environmentalist Wangari Maathai, is expected to visit the Czech Republic in November. Ms Maathai is supposed to take part in an international conference on greenhouse gases in Prague. The organisers had invited Ms Maathai as a regular delegate but now after she has been awarded the Nobel Prize, she'll be asked to deliver a special speech on the eve of the conference.

Public sector employees to receive higher end-of-year bonus

The senior coalition Social Democrats and trade union representatives have agreed on a compromise end-of-year-bonus for public sector employees. The government originally proposed that state employees should receive a bonus at 10 percent of their monthly salary while the unions had demanded a 40 percent additional benefit.

Police, inspectors raid open air market

More than 120 police officers and trade inspectors have launched a surprise raid on an open air market near the border crossing at Rozvadov on the Czech-German border. The inspectors called on the stall owners in Czech and Vietnamese to return to their stalls and submit their goods for examination, otherwise the goods will be confiscated and used for humanitarian purposes. The value of counterfeited goods at the market has been estimated at 200,000 euros.

Commercial TV terminates reality show after porn scandal

The Czech commercial TV channel Nova has decided to terminate its new reality dating show after three female participants were found to have posed for pornographic photographs and videos. TV Nova said the prime time show was meant to be a family programme and the channel has refused to be connected with sexual scandals. Financial losses caused by the cancellation of the programme after only four episodes are estimated at millions of crowns.

Weather

Sunday should be a sunny and chilly day with daytime temperatures ranging from 11 to 13 degrees Celsius.