Daily news summary

Prague Pride LGBT festival culminates with parade through city centre

The 2017 Prague Pride LGBT festival, a week-long event celebrating sexual diversity, culminated on Saturday with a traditional carnival parade through the city centre. Several thousand people took part in the procession, which set off from Wenceslas Square and ended at Prague’s Letná plain, where a concert is held. Around two hundred people took part in a march in support of the “traditional family” model organized by Christian Democrat opponents of Prague Pride.

President Zeman: general election winner to be appointed prime minister

President Miloš Zeman will appoint the winner of the upcoming parliamentary elections as the next prime minister, the presidential spokesman Jiří Ovčáček told the news site Aktuálně.cz on Saturday. Mr Ovčáček spoke in reaction to the police request to lift the parliamentary immunity of former Finance Minister and ANO parta leader Andrej Babiš and the deputy chairman of the party Jaroslav Faltýnek. The request is connected with the so-called Stork’s Nest affair, where a company belonging to Babiš‘ large agro-chemical group Agrofert applied for a 50 million crown European grant for work on a recreation and hotel complex. The funding was supposed to be directed towards small and medium sized companies. Mr Ovčáček also questioned the fact that the police move came just two months ahead of the general elections in October.

Two presidential candidates already have 50,000 signatures in support of their bid

Six months ahead of the presidential election, two candidates for the post have already collected 50,000 signatures needed to officially register as candidates, Czech Radio reported on Saturday. According to Czech Radio, it is almost certain that lyricist Michal Horáček and the current head of state Miloš Zeman will take part in the upcoming elections. Jiří Drahoš, a former head of the Academy of Sciences, said he was also getting close to the target figure. Political parties are planning to announce their candidates after the parliamentary elections in October, Czech radio reported.

Manolo Blahnik exhibition gets underway in Prague

An exhibition dedicated to the famous footwear designer Manolo Blahnik got underway at Prague’s Kampa Museum on Friday. Entitled Manolo Blahnik: The Art of Shoes, it explores the visionary designer’s 45 year long career, featuring more than 200 pairs of shoes and over 80 sketches by Blahnik from the 1970’s till today. Manolo Blahnik, whose father was born in Czechoslovakia, becoame world famous thanks to the series Sex in the City and the film Marie Antoinette.The travelling exhibition, which has already been on display in Milan and St Petersburg, will be on display in Prague until November 12.

Storm clean-up underway in north-east Bohemia

Clean up work is underway in the village of Bohuslavice in north-east Bohemia where a gale-force wind damaged roofs on some eighty houses on Friday afternoon. No injuries h been reported. Firemen in the Hradec Králové region on Friday responded to over 200 emergency calls, clearing fallen trees from roads and rail tracks. Several villages in the north and eastern part of the country suffered power blackouts. Meteorologists on Saturday warned of heavy storms due to hit the north-eastern part of the country in the afternoon.

Average temperatures expected in coming weeks

Temperatures in the Czech Republic in the next four weeks should remain average for the time of year, according to a regularly monthly weather forecast issued by the Czech Hydro-Meteorological Institute on Saturday. Day-time temperatures are expected to drop from the current 24 degrees to around 21 degrees Celsius. Rainfall levels are also expected to be average for the time of year.

Weather

Sunday is expected to be partly cloudy with occassional rain showers and daytime temperatures ranging between 18 and 22 degrees Celsius.