News

Albright lays flowers at cemetery at Terezín

Former US secretary of state Madeleine Albright accompanied Defence Minister Alexandr Vondra on a visit to Terezín on Sunday, the site of a former Jewish ghetto and Gestapo-run prison during World War II, from which tens of thousands were sent to their deaths in Auschwitz and other extermination camps. The former secretary of state, who was born to Czech Jewish parents in Prague in 1937, laid flowers at the National Cemetery at the Terezín memorial - remembering those who died in the Holocaust including 24 members of her own family. During her visit she also had a print made of her hand for the local museum known as Krištálový dotek (Crystal Touch), where casts are made in crystal and displayed. Others whose hands were cast in the past include the late Václav Havel and Arnošt Lustig.

Nine die on Czech roads

This weekend proved the deadliest so far on Czech roads this year, with nine people losing their lives in traffic accidents. On Saturday, three youths, around 20 years of age, were killed near Tábor after their vehicle skidded off the road and hit a tree. Two others, a 35-year-old driver and his seven-year-old daughter, died in a crash near Benešov, while a 20-year-old driver was killed in the Písek area when she hit a tree. Elsewhere, a 67-year-old man was killed at a crossing when he was hit by a truck.

Eighteen-year-old parachutist dies from injuries

An 18-year-old foreign national suffered fatal injuries in a parachute jump at an airfield in the Plzeň area on Saturday. The accident took place before noon; the young man died on route to the hospital. Witnesses said that during the jump the parachutist began spiraling out of control. He hit the ground near the control tower.

Birth rate drops in all 14 regions

The birth rate in all 14 regions in the Czech Republic fell in recent years while the mortality rate went up, the Czech Statistical Office reports, citing numbers from 2007 and 2011. The number of seniors across all 14 regions rose, as did the average age of residents (the average is now over the 40 mark). Fewer couples over the past few years joined in marriage but the number of marriages ending in divorce also went down, the office said.

Police arrest 56-year-old suspect in hammer attack

Police arrested a 56-year-old man who attacked his 45-year-old girlfriend with a hammer in the early hours of Sunday morning. The duo was traveling on a night tram when they got into a heated argument, witnesses said. When she exited, the suspect used the hammer to hit the woman twice in the head; she suffered serious injury. Witnesses called the police who arrested the suspect shortly afterwards; they are treating the case as attempted murder.

Extremists march through Svitavy

Around 130 ultra right-wing extremists took part in a procession in Svitavy on Saturday to express support for one of their own serving a prison sentence for the racially-motivated murder of a Romany man. Dozens of police officers, including a riot unit, monitored the march. Skinheads and other right-wing radicals have held the event for several years now.

Football: Slavia tie 3:3 with Parma

Prague football club Slavia tied 3:3 against Italy’s Parma in a preparation match ahead of the new season. The team was leading 3:2 in the 75th minute when Lucarelli scored to secure the draw.

Weather

The weekend will be mostly partly cloudy with rain in places and daytime highs of around 22 degrees Celsius.