Daily news summary

Man charged for hate speech at anti-immigration rally

Police have charged a man detained at Saturday's anti-immigration rally in Prague with inciting racial hatred, the police spokeswoman Iveta Martínková told the Czch News Agency. The Slovak national made racist and antisemitic remarks when holding a speech at a demonstartion on the Old Town Square. He is reportedly a member of a Slovak nationalist organisation Vzdor. If convicted, he faces up to two years in prison.

Several hundred people demonstrated against refugees at Czech-German border in Cínovec

Several hundred people from the Czech Republic and Germany demonstrated against the acceptance of refugees at the former customs house on the Czech-German border at Cínovec-Zinnwald. Some 80 migrants from Syria, Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan should be accomodated in the former customs house on the German side of the border, turned into an asylum facility with a capacity of up to 110 places. The migrants, who will have already passed through detention camps, should arrive there at the end of September or the beginning of October. According to the mayor of Dubí, a Czech town close to the border, the migrants will not be allowed to enter the territory of the Czech Republic.

Burning meadow halts train traffic on frequented route between Břeclav and Přerov

Seven fire fighter units have been fighting a blaze in a meadow near the town of Staré Město in south Moravia on Sunday. The fire occured along the frequented railway route from Přerov to Břeclav and train traffic had to be halted for several hours, a spokesperson for the fire service told the Czech News Agency. The incidence of fires is much higher due to the current hot and dry weather. Since the start of the week, fire fighters have been called to more than 150 blazes every day, which is three times more than the long term average. On Saturday, the hottest day of the hottest day of the year so far, they tackled 198 fires.

Some 2,000 people expected to attend annual pilgrimage to Sněžka on Monday

Around two thousand people are expected to take part in the annual pilgrimage to the top of the Czech Republic's highest peak, Sněžka, on Monday. A special mass will be served by the bishop of Hradec Králové, Jan Vokál, in honour of St Lawrence, the saint of the Krkonoše Mountains and the patron saint of brewers. Hundreds of Poles are also expected to attended the mass on the highest point of the Krkonoše Mountain, which lie on the Czech-Polish border. Former Czech president Václav Kalus is also expected to také part in the event. Czechs and Poles have been making the joint pilgrimage since the early 1990s.

Petr Čech suffers nightmare debut in Premiere League

Czech international goal keeper Petr Čech suffered a nightmare Premiere League debut for Arsenal as West Ham pulled off an unexpected 2-0 win at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday. Čech's mistake allowed West Ham midfielder Cheikhou Kouyate to head in a free-kick in the 43rd minute and Mauro Zaraté doubled the lead in the 57th minute. Petr Čech's move from Chelsea in the summer has been hailed as a signing that could provide the Gunners with a better chance for the Premiere League title race.

Tennis: Plíšková reaches final in Stanford

Czech tennis player Karolína Plíšková advanced to her fifth WTA final of the season, beating Varvara Lepchenko of the US 6-2, 7-5 on Saturday in Stanford, California. The fourth-seeded Plíšková, who will make her women's top 10 debut when the rankings are released on Monday, recorded her 39th victory of the season. In the final, Plíšková will face fifth-seeded Angelique Kerber of Germany.

Temperatures reached record highs on Saturday

Temperatures around the Czech Republic reached record highs on Saturday. According to the Czech Hydro-Meteorological Institute August 8th was the warmest day of the year so far with the highest temperature, 39.8 degrees Celsius, recorded in Husinec-Řež and in the town of Dobřichovice near Prague. Temperature records were broken at most of the 140 monitoring stations around the country, with 18 of them recording temperature over 38 degrees Celsius. The highest temperature ever recorded in the Czech Republic was 40.4 degrees Celsius in Dobřichovice on August 20th 2012. Temperatures should cool down a little on Sunday but next week is still expected to stay unusually warm and dry.