Czech military chiefs have warned against cuts to the defence budget. Speaking at a military show in western Bohemia on Saturday, the chief of the general staff of the Czech Army, Pavel Petr said any further spending reductions would lead to serious problems with obsolete equipment. Defence Minister Vlastimil Picek, meanwhile, said the army’s annual budget of around 42 billion crowns was insufficient for the modernization of its equipment but also threatened the army’s ability to keep its international obligations.
President Miloš Zeman will set out on a tour of Czech regions next week, starting in the eastern Zlín region where he is scheduled to spend three days. A week later, Mr Zeman is set to visit the Pardubice region, followed by southern Moravia by the end of September. However, the president’s plans have come under criticism over his involvement in the election campaign. Mr Zeman’s former party, the SPOZ, has fared best in the Pardubice and Zlín region where the president’s chief of staff, Vratislav Mynář, will head the party’s ballot in the upcoming early general election. Mr Zeman said he did support the party but would not participate in its campaigning.
Prague City Hall has launched a tender for the renovation of the landmark St Nicolas’ Church in the city’s Old Town Square. The project is worth around 50 million crowns excluding VAT, the news agency ČTK reported. The successful bidder will win a contract to repair the church’s façade and statues on it, as well as its glass-stained windows and a section of the roof. The winning bid will be chosen in November.
The baroque church of St Nicolas in Prague’s Old Town Square was built in the 1730s for the Catholic Church but was abolished only 50 years later and served various purposes until it was acquired by the protestant Hussite church in 1920.
The Czech Republic’s public broadcaster Czech Television on Saturday launched two new channels, ČT:D for children and ČT art. ČT:D aims at children aged between four and twelve years, and will be broadcasting every day between 6 AM and 8 PM. It will feature entertainment, animated shows, educational shows and competitions. At 8 PM, it will be followed by ČT art with broadcasts of theatre and music performances, art films, etc. The new channels should reach around over 80 percent of the broadcaster’s subscribers; however, there were complaints on Saturday that in some parts of the country, such as the northern Liberec region, viewers could not tune in.
Harvest celebrations are held at the 40th annual Bread Basket international agriculture fair in České Budějovice on Saturday. Harvest has concluded in most parts of the Czech Republic, with crop yields slightly above the long-term national average. Prime Minister Jiří Rusnok is visiting the fair on Saturday where celebrations include concerts and other festivities. Harvest celebrations are also held in a number of Czech towns and villages over the weekend.
The police are searching for an anonymous caller who made a bomb threat to a Prague hospital on Friday night. The wanted person called in at 9 PM and said a bomb would explode in the facility, located in Prague 4, at midnight. The hospital was evacuated but no explosives were found. Patients and health workers were able to return to the facility in the early hours of Saturday.
The police have raised charges of corruption against a former official of the south Moravian town of Znojmo. The man faces accusations that in 2010, he manipulated a public procurement project to buy to cars for the town hall, causing damages of at least 120,000 crowns. The police said the man instructed a firm to change their bid to fit the requirements despite the fact the tender had been closed.
A train hit a herd of cows near Brutnál, in northern Moravia, on Friday night, killing 17 animals, the police said. No passengers or train operators suffered injuries in the accident, a spokesman for the railway inspection authority said. A special train had to be dispatched to pick up the passengers as the accident happened in a remote area. Traffic on the route resumed on Saturday morning. The cause of the incident is under police investigation.
Bayern Munich won UEFA’s Supercup after they defeated Chelsea FC on penalties in Prague on Friday night. Bayern were losing twice in the game which ended in a 1:1 draw in regular time and 2:2 in extra time. In the penalty shootout, Bayern converted all five kicks while Chelsea’s Lukak failed, giving the victory to the reigning Champions League winners Bayern. The game was played out in front of 22,100 spectators at Prague’s Eden stadium, and was broadcast live to some 115 countries. However, only 1,500 tickets were available for Czech fans.
Seventeen-year-old Czech rider Karel Hanika claimed another pole position in the Red Bull Rookies Cup event in Silverstone, England on Friday night. The race is scheduled for Saturday afternoon. Hanika won the previous event held in Brno last week. In overall standings of the series, the Czech is in the lead with a 51-point advantage ahead of Jorge Martín of Spain.
Czech cyclist Leopold König won the eight stage of the Spanish Vuelta on Saturday after he managed to hold off Daniel Moreno’s final sprint of the 167-long ride. Saturday’s stage victory is the Czech rider’s first of the Grand Tour series. On Friday, another Czech, Zdeněk Štybar, who the seventh stage of the Vuelta. Leopold König, who rides for NetAppEndura, has moved to fifth place overall.
The next few days should be mostly overcast with occasion rain. Daytime highs will range between 16 and 20 degrees Celsius.
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