Daily news summary

Study: Zeman by far most discussed presidential candidate on social media

The incumbent Miloš Zeman is the most discussed candidate in this month’s presidential elections on social media, according to analysis conducted by the company SentiOne cited by the news website iHned.cz. The study carried out between mid-October and mid-December found that there was twice as much interest in Mr. Zeman as in any other candidate.

Just over 40 percent of mentions of candidates related to the president, compared to 19 percent for academic Jiří Drahoš, who has been coming second in opinion polls behind Mr. Zeman. Some 73 percent of comments regarding the incumbent were negative, more than for any of his rivals.

The first round of the presidential elections takes place on Friday and Saturday next week. If none of the candidates receives over half the vote, the front two will go through to a run-off a fortnight later.

Jan Thompson steps down as UK ambassador to Prague

Jan Thompson officially steps down as British ambassador to the Czech Republic on Friday, the embassy’s spokesman Jiří Šebek told the Czech News Agency on Wednesday.

Thompson, who headed the office for four and a half years, will be replaced by Nick Archer, who is set to arrive in Prague next week. Archer worked in a number of diplomatic positions before joining the United Kingdom Trade and Investment in 2012.

Minority ČEZ shareholder threatens meeting over nuclear reactor plans

Energy advisor and consultant for the J&T Bank, Michal Šnobr, announced on Wednesday that he and other investors together hold a shareholding of more than 1.0 percent in Czech power group, ČEZ. Šnobr said at an investment forum that the shareholding would allow him to call an extraordinary general meeting of the company and he would try to make that happen in the first half of this year if the government pushed for ČEZ to pay for a new nuclear reactor at Dukovany on its own.

That would hit shareholders’ stake in the near 70 percent state controlled power giant, he said. Šnobr has been a frequent critic of the current ČEZ management.

Supreme Court to deal with hijab complaint from former student

The Supreme Court is set to deal with the case of alleged discrimination filed by a young Somali woman who left a Prague nursing school because she was not allowed to wear a headscarf.

The girl sued the school, seeking an apology and 60,000 crowns in compensation, but a Prague court dismissed the case at the start of last year arguing that there was no evidence of discrimination.

The case, which happened in 2013, sparked a heated debate in the country. Czech ombudswoman Anna Šabatová stood up for the Somali girl, arguing that she was discriminated by being denied access to education.

Hockey: Czechs face Canada in World semis

The Czechs will face Canada in the semi-final at the 2018 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships after Canada trounced Switzerland by a score of 8:2. The Czechs clinched their spot in the semis earlier edging Finland by a score of 4:3 in a shootout in the quarterfinal.

The other semifinalists in the tournament are the hosts USA and Sweden.

Snow alert issued for north and north-east of Czech Republic

The Czech weather office has issued a snow warning for north and north-eastern parts of the Czech Republic. Heavy snowfall in the mountain regions could bring up to 35 centimetres of fresh snow.

Meteorologists have also warned of high winds of up to 110 kilometres an hour that will affect most of the country throughout Wednesday.

Weather

Thursday is expected to be cloudy with occasional rain and snow showers and daytime highs ranging between four and eight degrees Celsius.