News

Social Democrat MEP Jiří Havel dies

Jiří Havel, a Member of European Parliament for the Czech Social Democrats, died in Vienna on Sunday after a long illness, the news agency ČTK reported. He was 55. Jiří Havel was elected MEP in 2009, three years after the served as deputy prime minister for economy in a Social Democratic government. An economist by profession, he was a former member of the totalitarian communist party before he joined the Social Democrats in 1997.

New justice minister to streamline prison system

The new Czech justice minister, Pavel Blažek said he was planning to streamline the country’s justice system. Speaking on Czech TV on Sunday, Mr Blažek said the existing four types of prison, depending on the level of security, should be reduced to two. That would save dozens of millions of crowns, Mr Blažek said. He also announced the ministry was going to hold a public tender for the supplier of bracelets for home arrests, an alternative type of sentences seldom used in the Czech Republic.

Norwegian film The Almost Man wins main prize at Karlovy Vary

The Crystal Globe for the best feature movie at the 47th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival was awarded to the film The Almost Man by Norwegian director Martin Lund. The Italian movie Piazza Fontana: The Italian Conspiracy by Marco Tullio Giordana received the Special Jury Prize while prize for best director went to the Canadian filmmaker Rafaël Quellet. The Ukrainian movie House with a Turret by Eva Neymann won the winner of the festival’s East of the West section while actresses Helen Mirren and Susan Sarandon received awards for contribution to world cinema.

Prague's airport-bound Evropska street closed

Prague's Evropská street connecting the centre of the city with Ruzyně international airport has been closed for traffic on Sunday after a large sinkhole appeared there on Sunday. The crater of around four metres across and five metres deep, and the police closed the street in both directions, warning that traffic jams could form in neighbouring streets. It's not clear what caused the road's surface to collapse.

Police find bodies of man, child in Prague pond

The police on Sunday discovered the body of a 54-year-old man in a pond in Prague, only hours after the body of his 4-year-old girl was found in the same reservoir. The police said they would not comment on the case but announced the man was the girl’s father. The circumstances of the case are under investigation.

Tennis: Hlaváčková, Hradecká lose in Wimbledon doubles final

The Czech tennis pair Andrea Hlaváčková and Lucie Hradecká lost to Venus and Serena Williams 5:7, 4:6 in the doubles final in Wimbledon on Saturday. In the first set, the Czechs were able to keep up with the favourites and tied the set 5:5 but the Williams sisters eventually prevailed. Wimbledon was the second Grand Slam final for the Czechs who won last year’s doubles at the French Open.

Weather

The start of the week will be mostly overcast with rain and storms. Daytime highs should range between 22 and 26 degrees Celsius.