News

Prime Minister Andrej Babiš (ANO), according to Deputy Prime Minister and ANO vice-chair Karel Havlíček, will propose to President Petr Pavel that Filip Turek, honorary president of the Motorists party, head the Ministry of the Environment. Havlíček said this on Sunday on Czech Television’s program Questions of Václav Moravec. President Petr Pavel has already previously indicated that he refuses to appoint Turek. Babiš and Pavel are likely to discuss the situation on Wednesday, January 7, when the president’s New Year’s lunch with the prime minister is scheduled.

Foreign Minister Petr Macinka (Motorists) will summon Ukraine’s ambassador in Prague, Vasyl Zvarych. He wants to address the ambassador’s comments on remarks made by Chamber of Deputies Speaker Tomio Okamura (SPD) about Ukraine and its leadership in a New Year’s address. Finance Minister Alena Schillerová (ANO) said this in Sunday’s Partie programme on Prima TV. The planned meeting was also confirmed to CTK by the Foreign Ministry’s spokesperson, Mariana Wernerová. According to the spokesperson, the date is still being arranged. Opposition politicians have expressed surprise that the leaders of ANO and the Motorists did not distance themselves from Okamura’s statements; instead, they are criticising the Ukrainian ambassador and demanding an explanation from him.

The Czech Philharmonic (ČF), from whose first concert 130 years have passed on Sunday, strives to be a national musical representative. It is composed predominantly of Czech musicians, but it aims to perform a world repertoire. For this reason as well, a complete set of Gustav Mahler’s completed symphonies recorded under the direction of Semyon Bychkov will be released for its 130th anniversary. This was stated to the Czech News Agency (ČTK) by ČF’s Director General David Mareček.

The Atlanta basketball players lost 117–134 to Toronto on the road in the NBA, and not even Czech national team player Vít Krejčí could prevent the defeat, despite making all four of his three-point attempts and scoring 13 points. In 23 minutes on the court, he also added 2 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steals. The star of the evening on Saturday was Jaylen Brown of Boston, who led a 146–115 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers with 50 points. Exactly four years later, he matched his personal career high.