Daily news summary
Five people injured in separate Prague shootings
Separate shootings in Prague late Friday night left five people injured, with one in critical condition, a police spokesman said. Both incidents occurred after 11:00 p.m. in Prague 10.
In the more serious incident, a 74-year-old patient at the University Hospital in Vinohrady shot two other patients with a handgun. He was then disarmed by nurses and arrested.
In the other incident, a drunken man shot three people with a shotgun on Rostovská Street in Vršovice. He also had a handgun on him when taken into custody, police said.
PM Babiš invites US Congress group "Friends of the Czech Republic" to visit
Prime Minister Andrej Babiš (ANO) has invited members of the US Congress in the "Friends of the Czech Republic" group to visit Prague after the European elections in May.
He extended the invitation to the bipartisan group, whose members have constituencies with significant Czech communities, on Friday, the last day of his official visit to Washington.
Earlier in the day, Mr Babiš laid a wreath in honour of victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks at the Pentagon, where 184 people were killed when a hijacked plane crashed into the building.
He was accompanied by the US Secretary of Defense, Patrick Shanahan, with whom he discussed the joint fight of American and Czech soldiers against international terrorism. They also discussed cooperation to modernise the Czech Armed Forces.
The Czech Prime Minister also met officers of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee and representatives of major US Jewish organisations.
Crowdfunded Václav Havel documentary project exceeds funding target
A director who documented the last few years of Václav Havel’s life has received more than twice the initial amount he sought through a Czech crowdfunding site to begin work on editing his film.
Petr Jančárek, who worked with the late Czech president from 2009 to 2011, shot some 200 hours of material that will be edited for a feature-length documentary.
He had sought 400,000 crowns in public donations through the crowdfunding site HitHit but received more than 1 million crowns in the first 10 days. Jančárek will continue trying to raise money through crowdfunding sites Kickstarter and Indiegogo, his representative told ČTK.
Entitled “This is Havel, Can You Hear Me?”, the documentary is set to premiere in November 2019, to mark the 30th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia and the fall of Communism in Europe.
Jančárek is hoping to get the rights for songs by some of Havel’s favourite musicians, including the Rolling Stones, Lou Reed and David Bowie, for a symbolic price.
East Doc Platform with theme “Eastern Logic” gets underway in Prague
The week-long East Doc Platform, billed as the largest co-production, funding and distribution platform tailor-made for Central and East European documentaries, begins on Saturday in Prague.
This year’s theme, “Eastern Logic”, refers what organisers say is the unique identity and style shared by countries of the former Eastern Bloc. It describes thinking that manifests itself in documentary films from the region, from a technical and thematic aspect.
East Doc Platform is organised by the Institute for Documentary Film and One World film festival.
Shiffrin wins record 15th World Cup victory at Czech ski resort Špindlerův Mlýn
American Olympic gold-medalist Mikaela Shiffrin has won the World Cup slalom in the Czech ski resort where she began her racing career in 2011.
Shiffrin set a new record for the most Alpine Skiing World Cup triumphs in a season, 15, after winning the slalom in Špindlerův Mlýn.
Switzerland's Wendy Holdener finished second. Petra Vlhová of Slovakia, the only skier other than Shiffrin to win a women's World Cup slalom since January 2017, placed third.
Czech teen Gabriela Capová placed fourth.
Weather outlook
Sunday should be cool and cloudy with scattered showers likely throughout the country. Average daily temperature should between 6 and 10 degrees Celsius. Strong gusts of wind are expected, especially in mountain areas, the Czech Hydrometeorological Institute (ČHMÚ) said in a warning.
