Daily news summary

H-system clients refusing to leave their homes

The clients of the bankrupt building company H-System who have been ordered to vacate their homes within a month after losing a legal battle with the administrator of their properties at Horoměřice near Prague are refusing to comply with the order.

The court’s verdict has raised eyebrows with both Prime Minister Andrej Babiš and President Zeman calling it unjust.The Labour Ministry has said those affected may get state aid of up to 50,000 crowns per family.

Around 60 families who have been ordered to leave their homes say they have nowhere to go. The prime minister is to mediate talks between their housing association and the administrator.

The families claim the verdict is unfair since they each lost a million crown investment, completed the unfinished homes at their own expense and would now have to vacate the property.

The administrator wants their apartments to be sold off to the benefit of the altogether 1,000 duped clients of the bankrupt H-System.

The judge said in defence of the verdict that the law required him to protect the interests of all clients in the case.

Shortcomings uncovered in thesis of minister Metnar

The Czech minister of defence, Lubomír Metnar, who is facing suspicions of shortcomings in academic work he produced during his student career, has said he would address the issue within a week. Metnar said he would have his thesis examined in order to ascertain the extent of the problem.

Czech Television said that Mr. Metnar failed to include references to the sources he drew on in a thesis submitted in 2004. Two ministers have resigned from the recently installed coalition government over accusations of plagiarism.

The defence minister did not rule out resignation if wrongdoing was confirmed.

Photographer Antonin Kratochvíl accused of sexual harassment

Czech-born photographer Antonin Kratochvíl, who works and resides in the US, has been accused of sexual harassment, according to Colombia Journalism Review.

Kratochvíl, who worked for prestigious magazines such as Vogue, Rolling Stone and Newsweek, is reported to have harassed a number of women, including photo journalist Anastasia-Taylor Lindt.

Kratochvíl has rejected the accusations. The photo agency VII, which he co-established in 2001, has suspended his membership and is said to be conducting an internal investigation.

Price of flats in Prague continues to rise

The price of flats in Prague continues to rise. According to data made public by a group of real estate agencies the average price of flats in Prague rose by 24 percent year-on-year, reaching 94,000 crowns per square meter at the end of the second quarter. As compared to the first quarter in 2018 this is a rise of 6.2 percent.

The head of the Trigema agency Marcel Soural said that until supply and demand are more balanced the rise in prices will not abate.

Young Czechs’ knowledge of history shaky

The agency Post Bellum, formed by a group of historians and journalists with the aim of increasing public knowledge of the 20th century Czech history, has published the results of a survey indicating that 60 percent of young Czechs have no idea what happened in 1938. Only four in 10 respondents aged between 18 and 24 were able to say what the terms of the Munich Agreement were.

Knowledge of what happened in 1948 and 1968 – the communist take-over and the Soviet-led invasion -was more sound thanks to information gained largely from their parents and grandparents.

Filmmaker Ševčík completes shooting of adaptation of The Glass Room

The Czech film director Julius Ševčík has completed shooting on an adaptation of the novel The Glass Room by Simon Mawer, Czech Television reported. The book was partly inspired by Brno’s Tugendhat Villa, one of the most important Czech buildings of the 20th century. The movie features among others the Czech actors Karel Roden and Karel Dobrý.

Director Ševčík’s previous work A Prominent Patient, which was about politician Jan Masaryk, picked up 12 prizes at the Czech Lion film awards.

Weather forecast

Thursday should be partly cloudy, hot and humid with rain in the south of the country and day temperatures between 28 and 33 degrees Celsius.