Daily news summary

Prague councillors to sue predecessors over Opencard system

Prague councillors have voted to file a claim for damages linked to the Opencard system against former city officials, including one-time mayor Pavel Bém. Councillors say they hope the move will lead to the prosecution of Mr. Bém and others over the Opencard, an electronic ticket for public transport and other services that is being discontinued. The system cost Prague around CZK 1.7 billion. A spokesperson said City Hall had been considering the move for over a year.

France’s Hollande to visit Prague next week

The president of France, Francois Hollande, is expected in Prague on Wednesday next week to meet the Czech head of state, Miloš Zeman. Mr. Hollande had been due to come to the city in July but cancelled the visit after terror attacks in Nice and Normandy. At that time the French president had been expected to hold talks with Mr. Zeman and Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka on the security situation in Europe and the future of the EU in the wake of the UK’s vote to leave.

Zeman pardons woman at request of pope

Czech President Miloš Zeman has issued two pardons to women in prison, his spokesman Jiří Ovčáček said on Tuesday. Mr. Ovčáček said one of the pardons, for a woman who is looking after her young child in jail, was requested by Pope Francis in a letter to Mr. Zeman. The Czech head of state has granted five pardons since taking office and the mother, who has served most of her sentence, is the first of them not to have serious health problems.

No compensation for Ostrava woman seeking compensation for air pollution

The Prague Municipal Court has rejected an appeal from an Ostrava woman who a lower court refused to award compensation for the fact that she is forced to live in an environment with polluted air, iDnes.cz reported. Pavla Skýbová was seeking CZK 1 million from the state on the grounds that timely action was not taken to improve the air quality in Ostrava. In recent years some carcinogens up to nine times above EU limits have been found in the air in the north Moravian city.

Czech internet retailer makes first drone delivery

The Czech Republic’s second-biggest internet retailer, Mall.cz, delivered its first package by drone on Tuesday. The unmanned aerial vehicle took around five minutes to bring the delivery from a distribution centre near Prague to a customer 1.7 km away, landing on their garden. Boss Jakub Havrlant said the test made Mall better prepared for a discussion on possible legislative changes relating to the use of drones in the Czech Republic.

Czech Ondra achieves remarkable climbing feat in US

Czech climber Adam Ondra has become the second person in the world to achieve a free ascent of the Dawn Wall, a mountain face on El Capitan in Yosemite National Park in the United States. Along with his back-up Pavel Blažek, Ondra managed to scale the wall in eight days, knocking 11 days off the previous record. The pair slept in a tent hanging from the mountain as they carried out the record-breaking climb.

Weather forecast

It should be partly fair with some cloud in the Czech Republic on Wednesday, with temperatures expected to reach between 5 and 11 degrees Celsius. Forecasters say the remainder of the week will be rainy.