News

Countess Diana Phipps Sternberg, a member of the old Czech nobility, has died in Vienna at the age of 88. The Committee of Goodwill - Olga Havel Foundation, which she actively supported for many years, paid tribute to her memory, saying she had been the driving force behind many of its charity projects.

Diana Sternberg was 12 years old when her family fled from communist Czechoslovakia. She lived in various corners of the world and became a renowned interior designer. After returning to her homeland in 1990 she worked at the Office of the President under Václav Havel, where she chiefly focused on the interiors at Prague Castle and Lány Chateau, as well as founding the Committee of Goodwill with Olga Havlová.

The South Bohemia Region will launch an online medical emergency service for both children and adults that will be available 24 hours a day, starting on August 1, the governor’s office announced on its website. South Bohemia is the first region in the Czech Republic to offer this service, in response to growing complaints about a lack of general practitioners outside of the big cities. Due to a shortage of GPs in smaller towns and villages it is proving increasingly difficult to maintain emergency services in many areas. The online emergency service will be available twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, free of charge. The costs, amounting to around 14 million crowns a year, will be covered by the region.

Czech Barbora Krejčíková has reached tennis singles quarter-finals at the Olympics for the first time. The recent Wimbledon winner, who is 28, beat Elina Svitolina of Ukraine 7-6 2-6 6-4 in Paris to make the last eight. Her next opponent will be Anna Karolína Schmiedlová of Slovakia.

After that match on Tuesday Krejčíková also progressed in the doubles at Roland Garros. She and partner Kateřinou Siniaková, who took gold in Tokyo three years ago, overcame a Taiwanese pair 6-4 6-0.

It should be mainly overcast in Czechia on Wednesday, with an average high temperature of 30 degrees Celsius. Cooler temperatures are expected toward the end of the week.