News

Two Czechs unaccounted for since London blasts

There is still no news of the two Czech citizens who have been unaccounted for since Thursday's terrorist bombings in London. However, the Foreign Ministry says there is no great likelihood the two Czechs were in the parts of the city hit in the attacks.

The heightened security measures introduced in the Czech Republic following Thursday's blasts remain in place, with extra police on duty at strategic locations.

Czech Muslims strongly condemn London attacks

Czech Muslims have strongly condemned the London bombings, for which an Islamist terrorist group has claimed responsibility. In a statement, the Brno-based Islamic Foundation expressed solidarity with the victims and their families and condemned those who, they said, abused the word of God in an attempt to justify their crimes.

Best picture award at Karlovy Vary goes to Polish film My Nikifor

The Crystal Globe award for best picture at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival has gone to the Polish film My Nikifor, directed by Krysztof Krauze. The film is about a mentally handicapped naive painter called Nikifor Krynicky. Though the artist was a man, he is portrayed in the film by actress Krystyna Feldman, who is 80 years old. She won a Crystal Globe for best actress.

This year's Karlovy Vary festival was the biggest ever; a record 140,000 tickets were sold, exceeding organisers expectations.

Czech rower Synek crowns debut season with World Cup gold

Czech rower Ondrej Synek has become the overall winner of the World Cup, after coming first in the final men's single skull race of the season in Lucerne, Switzerland on Sunday. World Cup gold is a great achievement for Synek, who is 22 and made his debut at the beginning of the season with a win in England's Eton.

Poet Petr Kabes dies at 64

The Czech poet Petr Kabes has died at the age of 64. Kabes established himself during the relatively liberal period leading up to the Prague Spring, but was later forced to do menial labour. He signed the Charter 77 protest document. In 1995 the poet was given the Jaroslav Seifert award, and in 2003 received the state award for literature.

North Moravian town remembers victims of 1997 floods

A ceremony has been held in the north Moravian town of Troubky in honour of those who died in the heavy flooding which hit the region eight years ago, the website novinky.cz reports. Almost 50 people died and almost 60,000 were evacuated during the floods of July 1997. Speaking at the commemoration on Sunday, the mayor of Troubky said no anti-flood measures had been introduced in the town following the disaster.

Weather

Forecasters are warning of local flooding after days of heavy rain. However, the weather should clear up a bit in the coming days, and we can expect some sunny spells and temperatures of up to around 30 degrees Celsius by the end of the week.