News

Police detain two at northern Bohemian anti-Roma rally

The police on Saturday detained two people at an anti-Romany rally in the town of Rotava, in northern Bohemia. A police spokesman said they were suspected of hate crimes. The police also confiscated several baseball bats, golf clubs and knives at the rally, organized by the extremist Workers’ Party of Social Justice. Some 400 people, including dozens of extremists from Germany, turned up for the rally who later marched through parts of town mostly inhabited by Romanies.

Czech Airlines to add extra Paris-Prague flights over the weekend

Czech Airlines will add two extra flights between Paris and Prague over the weekend, and will also increase the capacity of existing flights due to a strike by Air France cabin staff, a spokeswoman for the carrier said on Saturday. The strike is expected to affect some 20 percent of all Air France flights, including two to Prague. The spokeswoman for Czech Airlines said more flights would be added if needed.

Press: Česká spořitelna wins welfare cards tender

The Česká spořitelna bank has won a contract to supply cards to recipients of social welfare, the daily Mladá fronta Dnes reported on Saturday. The bank won mainly because it had the highest number of ATMs of all the participants in the tender, the daily wrote. However, the winner has yet to be cleared by the Czech anti-monopoly authority. Welfare cards are to be introduced as part of the government’s social and welfare reform; if approved by Parliament, some 86 billion crowns in welfare and other benefits should be paid through these cards. The state should save up to one billion crowns as it will not pay for the service; the bank will charge recipients fees for all but one withdrawal a month.

Daylight saving time ends

Daylight saving time in the Czech Republic and other European countries ends at 3AM on Sunday when the clock will shift back by 60 minutes. The time change will affect transportation schedules; in the Czech Republic, three international and seven national express trains will stop at train stations for the extra hour.

State decorations awarded on Czechoslovak Independence Day

President Václav Klaus on Friday awarded state decorations and honours. WWII veterans Mikuláš Končický, Jan Velík and Václav Djačuk received the Order of the White Lion, the highest Czech decoration; the Order of Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk was awarded to seven people who were jailed by the Nazis or the Communists; the Medal of Courage was awarded in memoriam to a 16-year-old boy who died when he was saving his drowning friend, and the Medal of Merit was handed to 16 people including translator Martin Hislký, ski jump champion Jiří Raška, the jazz musician Emil Viklický, the cartoonist Vladimír Renčín, and others.

President Klaus criticizes lack of respect for conservative values

In his address at Prague Castle marking the Czechoslovak Independence Day, President Václav Klaus criticized the society’s lack of respect for authorities and conservative values which was at the heart of the unrest and frustration many people feel. Mr Klaus said Czechs were living in a relative prosperity but their community was threatened by a lack of cohesion that divides the society into opposing groups, such as those of the Roma and non-Roma. The president also criticized the coarsening of public discourse, especially in politics.

Tennis: Kvitová beats Stosur to reach WTA Championships’ final

Petra Kvitová beat Samantha Stosur 5:7. 6:3, 6:3 in the semifinals of the end-of-season WTA Championships in Istanbul on Saturday and reached tournament’s final. Kvitová made a series of errors in the fist set; in the second, the Australian was leading 1:0 and had a break point but Kvitová defended her serve and eventually dominated the whole match. In Sunday’s final, the new world number two will face Viktoria Azarenka from Belarus.

Weather

The next few days will be mostly overcast, with occasional drizzle. Daytime highs should range between 11 and 15 degrees Celsius.