Daily news summary

Former Prague imam sentenced to ten years in prison on terrorism charges

A court in Prague has sentenced former Prague imam Samer Shehadeh to ten years in prison on terrorism charges. Mr Shehadeh was found guilty of helping his brother and sister-in-law to travel to Syria to join the terrorist organisation Al-Nusra Front. He was also convicted for supporting the group financially.

The ex-imam has confessed to the actions, but said didn’t believe they were unlawful as he didn’t recognise the Syrian government and didn’t view the Al-Nusra Front as terrorist.

Mr. Shehaded left the Czech Republic in 2017 but was later arrested in Jordan and handed over to the Czech authorities.

Six Czech tourists will be allowed to leave Tenerife

The six Czechs who were quarantined in a hotel in Tenerife on Monday will be able to leave the island, Prime Minister Andrej Babiš reported following negotiations with the local authorities.

Mr. Babiš said the authorities had agreed with their repatriation on condition they would leave the island immediately.

The six Czech tourists, including a five-year-old-child, were placed in quarantine together with 720 other guests and close to 300 staff members after one of the guests tested positive for coronavirus.

The Czechs claim they could not have been infected since the man was already in hospital when they arrived.

Protest against new ombudsman in Brno

Around 300 opponents of the newly-appointed Czech Ombudsman Stanislav Křeček turned out to demonstrate against him outside the Ombudsman’s Office in Brno on Thursday evening. The protest was organized by the civic group Společně Brno which claims Křeček will not pursue a human rights agenda as the post requires.

Křeček, who was nominated by President Miloš Zeman and elected by the Chamber of Deputies, angered his critics by saying he would defend the rights of the “majority society” and that Romanies should take care of their own rights. He has also come under fire for his description of Muslim migrants as an “invasion”.

The civic movement Million Moments for Democracy is planning to hold a demonstration against the new ombudsman in Prague on Sunday.

Czech-Bavarian-Austrian lynx population estimated at over 100

The population of lynx living in the Czech-Bavarian-Austrian border area is estimated at 107 individuals, according to the results of a large-scale monitoring carried out between 2017 and 2018, presented by the Ministry of Environment on Friday. Around one third of the overall numbers are females with cubs.

The population of the wild cat covers an area of approximately 13,000 kilometres, stretching from the River Danube in the south to the Brdy and Český les mountain range in the north.

The 3Lynx project, which monitors the lynx population in six European countries, was launched in 2017 with the aim to outline a joint strategy to protect the endangered species.

US rapper Macklemore to play Prague’s Metronome festival

American rapper Macklemore will be among the headliners at this year’s Metronome festival, which is to take place in the Czech capital in June, the festival‘s organizers announced on Friday.

Macklemore has received four Grammy awards for his debut album The Heist and his single Thrift Shop, which has recorded more than 1.3 billion views on YouTube. He appeared in the Czech Republic in 2018 at the Aerodrome festival in Panenský Týnec.

Other international stars to appear at the fifth edition of the festival include US multi-instrumentalist and seven-time Grammy award winner Beck or the British electronic music group Underworld.

Kvitová through to semi-finals in Doha

Two-time Wimbledon winner Petra Kvitova has booked her spot in the semi-finals of the Qatar Total Open in Doha, after defeating Tunisia's Ons Jabeur 7-6, 7-6. The 2018 Czech champion will face World No.1 Ashleigh Barty for a place in the final.

Top seeds Barbora Strýcová with her Taiwanese partner Hsieh Su-wei will take on No.6 seeds Gabriela Dabrowski and Jelena Ostapenko in the women’s doubles final, after beating the Czech pair Barbora Krejčíková and Kateřina Siniaková 6-4, 4-6, 12-10.

Weather

Saturday is expected to be cloudy to overcast with daytime highs ranging between 5 and 9 degrees Celsius.