Daily news summary
Czech PM and government ministers in bilateral meeting with Israeli counterparts
Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka and seven members of his government will take part in a bilateral meeting with the Israeli government on Sunday. The Czech delegation to the annual meeting has also been accompanied by a business delegation aiming to boost ties. The main talks are likely to cover security, health, tourism, and culture. Sobotka is due to meet separately with Israeli president Reuven Rivlin and his counterpart Benjamin Netanhaju.
Justice minister says proposed new law on prosecution service needed
Minister of Justice Robert Pelikan has said that he want to push through with a new proposed law on the state prosecution service. Pelikan was speaking on Czech Television’s flagship public affairs programme on Sunday. The proposal has already been approved by the government but has still to go through the two houses of parliament. One of the controversial moves in the proposal is the creation of a new team of prosecutors which would handle major cases of corruption and economic crime. Critics of the proposal have included Supreme State Attorney Pavel Zeman. He said he is worried that the initial proposal will be radically changed by parliamentary amendments.
Multi-faceted Illustrator and designer Adolf Born dies at the age of 85
Painter, illustrator, animator, and caricaturist, Adolf Born has died in Prague at the age of 85. The news was released by his daughter Erika. Born was known for his humorous and grotesque caricatures and illustrations. He won many prizes, including the caricaturist of the year award at the 1974 Montreal World Fair. He illustrated more than 250 books. He also turned his hand to animated films and was best known for the Mach and Šebestová cartoon series. He was awarded a prize for his lifetime work at the Anifilm festival in 2013.
Forecasters warn of severe storms on Monday
Weather forecasters have warned of heavy rainfall and storms from Monday evening onwards as a cold front moves in from Germany. Rainfall at some places could average 30mm an hour, the forecasters say, and could result in local flooding of low lying land and cellars. The storms are expected to ease to continuous rain on Tuesday. The close of next week is also expected to see storms and high winds, though the intensity will probably be less than Monday.
Proposed changes to national park rules create controversy
The lower house is expected next week to debate fundamental changes to the law governing the country’s four national parks. The proposed changes include relaxing the ban on tourist access to the most sensitive and valuable areas of parks. At the time though, the proposed law aims to give more scope for parks to develop in a natural way without the intervention of man and also aims to reintroduce natural species where suitable. The proposed law has caused controversy with management of national parks, particularly the Šumava National Park, a hotly debated topic in the last decade.
Petra Kvitová scrapes through first round of French Open
In tennis, Czech Petra Kvitová struggled to get through the first round of the French Open at Roland Garros on Sunday against Montenegrin Danka Kovinic. Kvitová, seeded 10, was two balls away from losing the match at 4:5 in the third set on her opponent’s serve. She broke back to level and took the last two games to book a place in the second round. Kvitová has struggled in recent months and slipped down the WTA rankings
Karviná secure return to Czech football top flight
Karviná football club has secured its return to the top Czech football league. A 2:0 victory against Pardubice means that third placed Znojmo can no longer leapfrog Karviná for the second place promotion spot. Hradec Králové already secured promotion to the top league last week after spending a season in the second division. Karviná was last in Czech football’s top flight 17 years ago.
