Daily news summary

Second trial of David Rath to begin in October

The Prague Regional Court will begin a second trial of former top politician David Rath in October, Czech Television reported on Tuesday, quoting the court’s website. The same institution found Mr. Rath guilty of bribe-taking two years ago but he was freed by an appeals court, which ruled that wiretaps used to prosecute the one-time Social Democrat health minister and regional governor were inadmissible. Since then the Supreme Court has ruled such recordings can be used as evidence. Mr. Rath was originally sentenced to eight and a half years for allegedly taking kick-backs to rig public contracts.

Businessman Dědek enters politics with Mayors and Independents

Wealthy businessman Dalibor Dědek says he will help find non-party candidates to run for the Mayors and Independents group in October’s elections. The founder of security alarms and systems maker Jablotron says he will run himself if enough suitable nominees cannot be found. Mr. Dědek says he will be targeting capable people with unblemished reputations who do not earn money from state contracts or subsidies. The Mayors were meant to stand in the elections with the Christian Democrats but the latter dissolved the coalition.

Body of woman who died in Egypt after knife attack repatriated to Czech Republic

The body of a Czech woman who died in Hurgada, Egypt last week has been repatriated to the Czech Republic, the spokeswoman for the Czech Foreign Ministry, Michaela Lagronová confirmed on Tuesday. The Czech, who was 36, was one of several women attacked by a knifeman at a local resort. Two others died in the attack. Although the Czech woman's injuries were initially described as minor, her condition later suddenly deteriorated rapidly before she could be brought back to the Czech Republic. She reportedly died from multiple organ failure; a second autopsy is likely and the case is to be investigated by the Czech National Office for Combating Organised Crime.

July road deaths number lowest since early 1990s

The number of road deaths in the Czech Republic this July was, at 46, the lowest for the month since the start of the 1990s, a police representative said on Tuesday. Last year 60 people died on Czech roads in July. The overall figure for the first seven months of 2017 was down slightly on the number for the same period in 2016.

Escaped young puma recaptured near Prague

A young puma that escaped from a zoo park at Zvole near Prague on Monday has been caught. The animal, which is seven months old, was tranquilised and returned to its owner. Nobody was injured by the animal, a police spokesperson said after its recapture on Tuesday morning. The director of the zoo park said the puma’s cage had been tampered with. Police said they were still looking into how it had managed to get out.

Biabiany reportedly set to join Sparta from Inter

French football player Jonathan Biabiany is close to signing for Sparta Prague from Inter Milan, the website iSport.cz said. The 29-year-old winger, who was reported to be in the Czech capital, would be Sparta’s 11th new signing of the summer if the deal goes ahead. The club’s Italian manager Andrea Stramaccioni knows Biabiany from his time at the helm of Inter.

Weather forecast

It should be quite sunny with the chance of storms in the Czech Republic on Wednesday, with temperatures of up to 30 degrees Celsius expected. The rest of the week is forecast to see daytime highs of up to 32 degrees Celsius.