Daily news summary

Czech leaders express condolence and solidarity after London attack

Czech prime minister Bohuslav Sobotka said Czechs stood with Britain after the attack outside the House of Parliament, Westminster, London, on Wednesday which left four dead and the attacker shot. .He recalled that the attack occurred on the anniversary of the Brussels terror attacks a year earlier. Foreign minister Lubomír Zaorálek said his thoughts were with the families of victims. He tweeted from an international meeting in Washington coordination action against Islamic State and preparing for reconstruction in Iraq and Syria. Police later corrected the death total death toll to four. The Czech foreign ministry said Thursday that no Czechs were among the victims of the attack.

High Court rejects Dahlgren appeal against life sentence

Olomouc’s High Court rejected on Thursday the appeal by US citizen Kevin Dahlgren, sentenced last year to life imprisonment for the murder of four relatives in Brno. The sentence was confirmed. Twenty five- year- old Dahlgren had appealed the verdict, sentence, and compensation demanded. A new psychiatric evaluation formed part of the court deliberations. An expert told the court that Dahlgren admitted to wanting to kill his prison guards and fellow inmates. Dahlgren’s defense maintains that he was not sane when the attacks in May 2013 took place. Dahlgren went to Vienna to find a flight to the United States but was later extradited to the Czech Republic to face trial.

Reward for Petra Kvitová’s attacker boosted to half a million crowns

A reward aimed at finding the attacker of Czech tennis player Petra Kvitová has been increased to 500,000 crowns (around 18,500 euros). A man, who has requested to remain anonymous, has offered a further 400,000 crowns to add to the 100,000 crowns already offered in January by the local Prostějov tennis club. Kvitová’s hands were badly damaged when she tackled an intruder with a knife at her flat in the town where the two times Wimbledon winner developed her game. Police have said tracking down the attacker is a high priority but no progress has been reported since the start of the year.

Luhačovice faces restitution settlement with Serényi family

The spa town of Luhačovice will have to return a stately home, forests and other property to the Serényi family who were linked with the town from the 17th century and helped make it a tourist attraction. Town authorities say they are aware of the restitution demand and expect working out the details to take several years of negotiations. The dispute over the property stemmed from the fact that Alois Serényi claimed German citizenship during WWII. After the end of the war he attempted to reclaim his Czechoslovak citizenship. That was eventually recognised last year opening the way for the former property to be reclaimed.

Bat’a seeks to centralise worldwide marketing in Prague: report

Worldwide shoe company Bat’a intends to site its global marketing headquarters in Prague, according to the Czech daily Lidové Noviny. The new Prague team will be led by the 29-year-old grandson of the founder of the Czechoslovak shoe empire, Thomas Archer Bata, it added. Bat’a has hitherto had a decentralised marketing philosophy for its worldwide operations but has now decided to unify the image and stress its historical tradition.

Public able to pay respects to Miloslav Vlk on Thursday

The public will be able to pay their respects at the coffin and remains of former Prague archbishop Miloslav Vlk from Thursday afternoon at St. Vitus’ Cathedral in the Czech capital. It will also be possible to donate to a hospice at Hořice in the north east of the country which was supported during his life by Miloslav Vlk. He died last Saturday and the funeral will take place this Saturday at St. Vitus’ Cathedral with the service conducted by Prague archbishop Dominik Duka.

Czechs win football warm up against Lithuania 3:0

In football, the Czech national team beat Lithuania 3:0 in a friendly on Wednesday night. All the goals were scored in the second half with Hořova beginning the tally from the penalty spot. More goals followed from Jankto and Krmenčík. The game was a warm up for an away World Cup qualifier against San Marino on Sunday. The Czechs need to win all their remaining qualification games if they are to stand a realistic chance of coming second in their group – where Germany dominate – and reaching Russia next year

Weather

The weather on Friday will be cloudy with sunny intervals. Top daytime temperatures will range between 10 and 16 degrees Celsius.