Daily news summary

Health unions call strike alert for higher wages

Trade unions in the health sector have called a strike alert in support of higher wages. They have also called on doctors and nurses to abide by the labour code with respect to overtime and have urged inspectors to check-out work conditions in hospitals.

Many hospitals admit that due to a shortage of staff they force doctors and nurses to take more overtime hours than the labour code allows.

The unions have written an open letter to Prime Minister Andrej Babiš saying that the government should keep its promise of a ten percent raise for health workers.

Health Minister Adam Vojtěch said on Thursday that wages in the health sector had already risen by 30 percent in the last five years and the hike now being considered was four to five percent.

There are 260,000 people working in the heath sector and another 100,000 in social services.

Funeral for Czech soldier killed in Afghanistan

Patrik Štěpánek, the last of the three Czech soldiers killed in Afghanistan, was buried with military honours in his home town of Plzen on Friday. The ceremony was attended by Defence Minister Lubomír Metnar and General Chief-of-Staff Aleš Opata.

The three Czech servicemen were killed by a suicide bomber while patrolling an area near Bagram Military Base earlier this month. All three were promoted to the rank of officer in memoriam and will be awarded medals for bravery.

People collect eight million for families of soldiers killed

People have collected close to eight million crowns in aid of the families of the three Czech soldiers killed in Afghanistan, according to a spokesperson for the Military Solidarity Fund which set up a special account for that purpose.Contributions are pouring in from individuals, firms, sports clubs and their comrades-in-arms.

Members of the Chrudim unit in which they served are organizing a charity race in their memory in September, the proceeds of which will go to the account in aid of their families.

Czech bus driver crashes on German highway

A long-distance Flixbus driven by a Czech crashed on Autobahn 19 at Linstow, south of Rostock in the early hours of Friday. According to DPA news reports 16 passengers were injured 8 of them seriously.

According to Danish media reports, the bus was travelling from Stockholm to Berlin and had picked up passengers in Copenhagen before the crash in Germany. The driver reportedly suffered lighter injuries. The cause of the accident is being investigated.

Police cracks down on drugs gang in south Moravia

Police in south Moravia have cracked down on a drugs gang, which produced and sold party drugs in the Czech Republic and abroad.

Eleven people were arrested and the police confiscated 40 kilograms of marihuana, over 600 marihuana plants, 150 tablets of the party drug Ecstasy as well as a firearm and ammunition.

Czech tennis chief bemoans “death” of Davis Cup

The head of the Czech Tennis Federation, Ivo Kaderka, has come out strongly against a radical overhaul of the Davis Cup. From next year the international team competition will be decided by a season-ending, 18-team tournament at a neutral site.

In an interview with news site iDnes.cz, Mr. Kaderka described Thursday’s approval of the changes as the “execution” of the Davis Cup. He said the competition had “died” due to the immense stupidity and greed of people attempting to acquire more power and money.

Weather forecast

Saturday should be clear to partly cloudy with day temperatures between 29 and 33 degrees Celsius.