The Czech Republic has expressed grave concern over the latest developments in Egypt. In a statement released on Thursday the Czech Foreign Ministry called for restraint on both sides, an end to the violence and a return to political dialogue which would open the way to democratic reforms. The ministry also expressed deep sympathy for the victims’ families. A state of emergency is in place in the country following a clampdown by security forces on supporters of the deposed president Mohamed Mursi which claimed over 500 lives.
The Czech Foreign Ministry has issued a warning to Czech tourists in Egypt advising them not to stray from their beach resorts, which are still deemed relatively safe and not to undertake solo trips around the country. The ministry warns against trips to Cairo and other big cities where there is a danger of more street violence.
The Czech national who is being investigated by the Egyptian authorities in connection with the unexplained death of his 36-year-old wife and eight-year-old daughter in Hurghada two weeks ago has asked to be allowed to travel home. The request was made in connection with the unstable situation in the country. The man is a suspect in the ongoing investigation and although the authorities have returned his passport he is not allowed to leave the country until the investigation is concluded. An autopsy on the bodies was conducted both in Egypt and here in the Czech Republic but no official reports have so far been released. According to an Egyptian doctor who examined the bodies the mother and daughter were poisoned.
Burma's opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi is expected to attend the September Forum 2,000 conference in Prague, the ctk news agency reports. According to the conference organizers the chairwoman of the National League for Democracy has accepted an invitation to address the conference which will focus on countries in transition. The conference was established by the late ex-president Vaclav Havel who was a strong supporter of Burma’s leading dissident in the years when she was under house arrest. Aung San Suu Kyi received an invitation to attend Forum 2,000 every year for over a decade, as a show of support and respect, although it was clear she would not be able to travel.
The former first lady Livia Klausová is to be named ambassador to Slovakia, and former astronaut, Communist party MEP Vladimir Remek will become the country’s ambassador to Russia, President Zeman’s Chancellor Vratislav Mynar told Czech Television on Thursday. Confirmation from Prague Castle means that both nominees have been approved by the host countries. The appointments of these two particular candidates were at the centre of a long-running dispute between the president and then-foreign minister Karel Schwarzenberg, blocking several other problem-free nominations for weeks. Mr. Schwarzenberg has accused the president of using the Rusnok government to get his own way in the matter. It is not yet clear when the appointments will be made.
Police are investigating whether former defence minister Vlasta Parkanová did not break the law when she published transcriptions of the police’s interrogations of all of the witnesses and accused persons in a case in which she faces charges of authorising an overpriced contract to purchase military planes. The former minister posted the materials on her own website without comment. The case has also been handed to the Office for Protection of Private Data. Several witnesses whose testimonies were published have protested against the move.
An outdoor exhibition of draft versions of a joint Czech-Roma flag has been vandalised. The series of works, which are on located a site called the Artwall on a Prague embankment, are by Slovak artist Tomáš Rafa and are intended to spur a discussion on co-existence between the majority population and the Roma minority. Earlier this week somebody threw paint at all seven of the proposed flag designs, which combine the Czech tricolour with an international Roma flag created in the early 1970s. The far-right Workers Party of Social Justice have filed a complaint against the project, which they say breaches the law on use of Czech state symbols.
Work has fully resumed along a highly-disputed stretch of the D1 highway which is undergoing reconstruction. The firm responsible for repairing this stretch of the road halted work on it several weeks ago on the argument that it was in a much worse state of disrepair than previously thought and demanded more money from the investor. Although a threat from the transport minister to terminate the firm’s contract resulted in some renewed activity, little progress was made. Now the Czech Road and Highway Directorate has promised to pay the firm an additional 5 to 6 million crowns to cover the extra costs and the reconstruction work appears to be back on track.
The filming of the Hollywood movie Child 44 will restrict traffic on the B line of the Prague metro over the weekend, the city’s transport authority reported. The stations Anděl and Smíchovské nádraží will be closed to the public in the night hours between 10 pm to 8am from Friday to Monday and also from 8 am to 10 am when trains will only pass through these stations. The metro has arranged a replacement bus service for passengers. The movie Child 44, produced by Ridley Scott, and directed by Daniel Espinoza, is being shot in Prague and other parts of the country, including Kladno and the former military base in Ralsko.
Czech athlete Zuzana Hejnova has won the 400 metres hurdles final at the World Championships in Moscow with a time of 52.83. Dalilah Muhammad of the United States was second in 54.09 and her compatriot and 2011 world champion Lashinda Demus came third in 54.27.
The 26-year-old Czech athlete was aiming for the gold after a hugely successful year in which she won all eight races she competed in, including five in the Diamond League. At the Diamond League meeting in London Hejnova crossed the line on 53:07 seconds.
The Czech Republic drew 1:1 with Hungary in a soccer friendly in Budapest on Wednesday night. The Czechs took the lead in the middle of the first half when striker Libor Kozák of Lazio found the net for his first international goal, before the hosts replied through a penalty after the break. It was Michal Bílek’s men’s last warm-up game before key World Cup qualifiers against Armenia and Italy next month; with six of 10 games played, the Czechs lie third in their qualification group for the World Cup in Brazil, one point behind second-placed Bulgaria.
The coming days should be warm and sunny with afternoon highs reaching 29 degrees C.
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