Daily news summary

Sudeten German Homeland Association leader says they can be bridge for Czechs

The 68th meeting of the Sudeten German Homeland Association (Sudeten German Landsmannschaft) started in the Bavarian town of Augsburg. One of the main targets of the meeting is reported to be a further deepening of relations between the former Sudeten Germans and their descendants and Czechs. The meeting should be attended by Czech Christian Democrat leader Pavel Bělobrádek on Sunday. He will be the highest placed Czech politicians so far to attend such a meeting. The head of the association, Bernd Posselt ,said on Saturday that Sudeten Germans could be a bridge between Czechs and Bavaria and the rest of Germany.

Prague mayor seeks go ahead to bury dissected bodies from worldwide exhibition

The mayor of Prague’s 7 district has written to the Chinese Embassy asking for human bodies which are part of a show, Body The Exhibition, to be buried. The mayor, Jan Čižinský, says the law is clear that human bodies should be buried although these are part of well known exhibition. The embassy has 30 days to reply before the local council takes action, he said. The bodies are currently on show at Prague’s Exhibition Ground. The exhibition, which has travelled worldwide, has previously courted controversy over speculation over the origins of the dissected bodies in China.

Czech football seeks extra time to find new leadership

The Czech Football Association failed to elect new leaders at a meeting in Prague on Friday. Even after three rounds of voting the top two candidates to be chairman, Martin Malík and Petr Fousek, failed to obtain the majority needed to occupy that the top position. The stalemate means that Mirolsav Pelta remains association chairman although he is currently in police custody related to a suspected sports funds fraud involving the Ministry of Education. A special general assembly of the association should be held at the latest by November 31. The two frontrunners from Friday failed to win sufficient support from both Bohemian and Moravian delegates. They have not confirmed whether they will stand again.

Football sponsors disappointed by selection failure

One of Czech footballs main long time sponsors, the brewery Gambrinus, said in a public statement that it was disappointed that new leadership of the Czech football association was not elected on Friday. The letter said that the brewery regarded the situation as critical and was weighing up its further steps. Other main sponsors, such as O2 and T-Mobile, have also voiced their concern about the current situation surrounding Czech football. The top football league currently does not have a main sponsor for the upcoming season after insurer ePojisteni said it would no longer sponsor the league after the last season. Gambrinus was previously the long term league sponsor.

Czech government mulls coordinator to land European Banking Agency

Czech attempts to have the European Banking Authority re-sited from London to Prague could be led by Karel Dobeš, the Czech News Agency reported on Saturday. A similar post was already created by the government with Dobeš tasked then to pave the way for Prague hosting the European Global Navigation Satellite Systems Agency (GSA). The Cabinet is to discuss the proposal on Monday. The government has prioritised landing the EBA headquarters over the European Medicines Agency which must also move out of London due to Brexit.

Agrofert sees sales and profits fall

The consolidated net profit of agro-chemical company Agrofert fell last year by 9.6 percent to 7.79 billion crowns. Turnover of the company, indirectly owned by former minister of finance and ongoing ANO leader Andrej Babiš, fell by 6.4 percent to just over 155 billion crowns. Agrofert’s spokesman said the fall was mainly caused by the fall in commodity prices and in particular by the poorer performance of the chemicals and fertilizer divisions. Agrofert is held in trust for majority owner Andrej Babiš.

Weather

Heavy rainfall is expected across most of the country on Sunday with the exception of the far west and east. Top daytime temperatures will range between 19 and 30 degrees Celsius.