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The singer-songwriter Bob Dylan performed at Prague’s O2 Arena on Friday night. Some 6000 visitors attended the two-hour performance; organizers described the atmosphere as piping hot. The audience, mostly die-hard fans, cheered and sung along as Dylan played a selection of older and newer hits.

One of the most significant figures in post-war US culture, the 69-year-old has performed five times in the Czech Republic since his first concert in the country in 1994. Dylan’s last concert in the capital was five years ago, while he performed in Ostrava in 2008.

The Czech Hydrometeorological Institute has again issued a storm warning for large parts of the country. After record temperatures of up to 33 degrees and humid conditions on Saturday, strong thunderstorms may occur in Moravia and south-eastern Bohemia. Strong precipitation may cause river levels to rise, flooding of cellars and garages may occur in some parts of the country. In some locations, wind speeds could reach up to 90 km/h. Meteorologists expect that following this week’s heat wave, temperatures will drop to around 20 degrees Celsius on Sunday.

The number of racially motivated crimes recorded in the Czech Republic has fallen in recent years, according to a report released by the European Union’s Agency for Fundamental Rights. However, the report found that around one third of the country’s Romany minority say they have been the victim of attack. Czech NGO In Iustitia pointed out that the new report does not cover 2009, when there was a rise in the number of recorded crimes with a racial subtext. In the most high profile case, four neo-Nazis are accused of racially motivated attempted murder after allegedly firebombing a Romany family’s home in north Moravia in April 2009; the attack left a small child fighting for her life after suffering burns on 80 percent of her body.

Czech judges have warned that if the number of administrative workers in the judicial system is not increased, the quality of the court system will fall back to what it was in the 1990s. The president of the judges union, Tomáš Lichovník, said the financial crisis had resulted in increased workloads, which combined with a shortage of skilled staff threatened a return to the often slow handling of cases seen in the past. Mr Lichovník said he welcomed a statement by the three parties currently in talks on forming a new government promising to fund the hiring of more court officials and assistants. Meanwhile, the judges have warned that if their wages are cut as part of austerity measures they could take the matter to the Constitutional Court.