Daily news summary

Czech exports to EU keep increasing

Czech dependence on exports to EU keeps increasing despite the government’s efforts to diversify. According to the latest figures released by the Czech Statistics Office on Wednesday, some 84.2 percent of Czech exports go to other EU countries, a year-on-year increase by nearly one percentage point. Exports to North America and Asia, on the other hand, have dropped.

MP apologises to Chinese after collapse of unofficial trip

MP Jan Birke of the Social Democrats has apologised to representatives of the Chinese embassy in Prague after the cancellation of an unofficial visit by Czech deputies to China. The group of politicians had been due to visit the country at the invitation of Beijing at the end of August before a number announced they were dropping out.

In the end only three were still willing to go, which Mr. Birke described as nonsensical and undignified. He said, however, that a similar visit would take place before the end of the year.

Czech driver who survived Genoa bridge collapse in good condition

A Czech truck driver who survived the disastrous collapse of a bridge in Italy’s Genoa will remain in hospital for five to seven days.

The 46-year-old man, who works for the Prague-based haulage company SPED-IT, has a broken nose, several broken ribs and bruised lungs, but is otherwise in a good condition.

At least 42 people were killed after the elevated motorway collapsed, with some vehicles plunging up to 90 metres to the ground below.

Czech music festival gets underway in Romania’s Banát

Around 1,300 people left on a special train from Prague to Romania on Tuesday evening to take part in the annual music festival in Banát in the south-west of the country, which gets underway on Wednesday evening.

The festival was established to raise money in support of the local Czech community. Over 30 Czech bands and musicians are set to perform in the seventh edition of the event, which takes place in the village of Eibenthal.

The Czech community settled in Banát in the 1920s. Today there are around 2,000 Czechs living in the rural area.

Kvitová, Plíšková through in Cincinnati

In tennis, Petra Kvitová has advanced to the third round of Cincinnati Open after beating Serena Williams 6:3, 2:6 a 6:3. It is the second time that the 28-year-old has beaten the U.S. player in her career. She is set to face Kristina Mladenovic of France in the next round.

Another Czech, Karolína Plíšková has scored her first win over Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland, knocking her out 6:3, 6:3 to advance to the second round.

Slavia fail to reach Champions League group stage after Kyiv defeat

Slavia Prague have failed to reach the group stage of football’s Champions League after losing to Dynamo Kyiv on Tuesday evening. The Czech side were beaten 2:0 on the night following a 1:1 draw in Prague last week for a 3:1 aggregate defeat.

The result in Ukraine was Slavia’s first defeat of the season. The last time they reached the group stage of the Champions League, Europe’s top international club competition, was 2007.

Weather

Thursday is expected to be mostly sunny with daytime highs ranging between 26 and 30 degrees Celsius.