Daily news summary

Zaorálek: Foreign Ministry should decide on extradition cases

The Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs should have the power to decide extradition cases, not the Ministry of Justice as at present, according to Foreign Minister Lubomír Zaorálek. Speaking on a television discussion show on Sunday, the foreign policy chief made the comment in connection with the case of alleged Russian hacker Yevgeny Nikulin, who both the US and Russia are seeking. Mr. Zaorálek said making extradition a foreign policy matter was logical as it had an influence on relations with other states. Mr. Nikulin was arrested in Prague in October. He is wanted by the FBI in connection with a hack of LinkedIn in which the passwords of more than 100 million users of the professional networking service were compromised. Currently Czech courts rule on extradition, with their decisions then confirmed or rejected by the justice minister.

Zeman: Gorbachev bigger factor in fall of communism than Charter

President Miloš Zeman says the fact Mikhail Gorbachev was in power, which meant the Soviets did not send in tanks in 1989, was a bigger factor in the fall of communism in Czechoslovakia than Charter 77. Speaking to the news site Blesk.cz on Sunday, Mr. Zeman said he did not sign Charter 77, a protest document launched in January 1977, because he hadn’t been asked to. When in spring 1989 he was presented with the petition Several Sentences he put his signature to it immediately, he said.

Nečas returns to politics as advisor to Civic Democratic Alliance

Former prime minister and Civic Democratic Party chairman Petr Nečas has returned to politics as an advisor to a new incarnation of the Civic Democratic Alliance funded by billionaire Pavel Sehnal, the news site Euro.cz reported. A former industry minister, Vladimír Dlouhý, is also serving as a consultant to the party. Mr. Nečas stepped down as PM in 2013 after his then mistress and now wife was arrested on suspicion of corruption. He himself was later charged with bribery.

Higher receipts in all forms of taxation recorded in 2016

The Czech authorities saw increased receipts in all forms of taxation last year. According to figures just released by central agency the Financial Administration and quoted by the Czech News Agency, value added tax receipts reached nearly CZK 350 billion in 2016, an increase of CZK 18 billion on the previous 12-month period. Income tax jumped by CZK 17 billion to CZK 164.7 billion. The tax authorities have also seen higher company tax and levies from lotteries.

Mass start win reinforces Koukalová’s hold on World Cup lead

The Czech biathlon star Gabriela Koukalová has come first in the mass start event at a Biathlon World Cup meeting in the German ski resort of Oberhof. Sunday’s win, in which Koukalová finished over 30 seconds ahead of her nearest rival, reinforces the 27-year-old’s hold on overall first place in the season-long race for the World Cup’s title, which she also won last year.

Weather forecast

It should remain cold in the coming days, with temperatures of no higher than -4 degrees expected until Thursday, when it will get warmer. Forecasters say it will be cloudy with some fair spells.