News Berdych beaten in French Open quarter-finals by Latvia’s Gublis
The Czech tennis player Tomáš Berdych has been knocked out in the quarter-finals at the French Open in Paris. The 28-year-old, who had been seeded sixth, lost 3-6 2-6 4-6 on Tuesday to Ernest Gulbis of Latvia, who beat Roger Federer in a previous round. Though Berdych lost in less than two hours, reaching the quarter-finals still represents his second best placing at Roland Garros.
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Norwegian PM intervenes in Czech childcare case
Norway’s Prime Minister Erna Solberg has hit back at the politicization of the case of two Czech brothers subject to Norwegian care authorities, according to a report by Czech Television. She said it was not for politicians to intervene in individual cases, referring to the case of the sons of Czech mother Eva Michálková. She added that when weighing up care orders no difference was made in Norwegian law between the of Norwegian and foreign born children. Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka took up the Michálková case last week with the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs this week firing off a second diplomatic note to Norway over it. Czech Christian Democrat member of the European Parliament Tomáš Zdechovský raised the case in the parliament this week saying that Norwegian authorities had removed the children from their parents on the basis of flawed evaluations.
Police says number of illegal foreigners jumps in 2014
The Czech Foreigners’ Police said Thursday that they discovered 4,822 cases of foreign citizens living illegally in the Czech Republic last year. That is a 669 increase on the total in 2013. Ukrainians accounted for most of the illegal foreigners, followed by Kuwaiti’s and Russians. The number of illegal Syrians climbed to 146 from 39 in 2013.
Total smoking ban in bars and restaurants suggested by health ministry proposal
A total ban on smoking in bars, restaurants, and public places could be in force in 2016, under a proposal put forward by Ministry of Health and published on Wednesday. The ban would also cover electronic cigarettes. The proposal also touches on the sale of alcohol with a demand that restaurants and bars sell at least one non-alcoholic drink at a price cheaper than a beer or other alcoholic drink featuring on the menu. Surveys suggest that around 80 percent of Czechs favour a smoking ban in restaurants and bars. At the moment bars and restaurants can choose if they want to impose smoking banks or limits on their premises.
Tomáš Berdych falls at Australian Open semi-final
In tennis, Tomáš Berdych has crashed out of the Australian Open in his semi-final tie against Scot Andy Murray. Berdych went ahead in a tight first set by taking the tie break 8:6. But Murray stormed back to take the second 6:0 and won the third with a comfortable 6:3. Berdych rallied in the fourth but Murray broke his serve for a 6:5 advantage and then served out for the match.
Czech ombudswoman highlights problems of pensions offering elderly care
Czech ombudswoman Anna Šabotová has repeated her warnings about the state of some non registered care facilities for elderly in the country. She highlighted the state of four facilities across the country, two were so bad that the details were forwarded to state prosecutors with a view to possible criminal charges. The facilities were ostensibly run as pensions to bypass proper checks but nonetheless offered care for elderly. Šabotová’s office found that some of the elderly were not allowed to move about freely, they were not given enough food and drink, and the wrong drugs and doses were given to them. The number of elderly homes parading as pensions is not known. Šabotová first warned about such facilities last year.
Ministers clash over relaxation of mining limits
Czech Minister of Industry and Trade Jan Mládek said Thursday that he is favour of a partial relaxation of existing limits of mining brown coal in the country. Mládek repeated his stance ahead of a demonstration by miners in Prague. But Minister of Finance and ANO leader Andrej Babiš immediately reacted by saying he is opposed to any changes in the limits imposed at the start of the 1990s. Mládek has admitted that one of the options for relaxing the limits could involve partial demolition of the town of Horní Jiřetín.
Czech au pair sentenced for child abuse by British court
A Czech has been given a 10 year jail sentence by a British court for abusing a young boy and being in possession of more than 30,000 child porn images. The 25-year-old, who was working as an au pair, was caught by police when they raided a Bradford home where he was caring for two children. They found a vast quantity of child porn images. The child abuse charges related to a young boy in the Czech Republic, the images from which he later circulated on the internet. The Czech said he wanted to serve his sentence in his homeland rather than Britain.
Prague’s DOX centre opens Charlie Hebdo exhibition
The DOX Centre for Contemporary Art in Prague launched an exhibition of more than 200 front covers from the French satirical weekly ‘Charlie Hebdo’on Wednesday. The exhibition draws on examples held by a private collector and will run until March 9. Charlie Hebdo hit the headlines worldwide when attackers shot down many of its editorial team in an attack at the start of January. A similar exhibition planned at the Belgian city of Louvain-La-Neuve was cancelled for security reasons.
Forecasters warns of snow drift threat
Forecasters are warning of the dangers of snow drifts, especially in Eastern Moravia and Silesia, when winds combine with snow showers overnight. The winds are expected to reach speeds of up to 110 kilometres an hour on high ground over 600 metres. The meteorological office says that difficult conditions could affect almost the whole country with the exception of Prague and central Bohemia.
Cabinet selects new ‘super civil servant’
The Czech Cabinet on Wednesday selected its so-called ‘super civil servant’ from a shortlist of three candidates. The holder of the new post at the top of the civil service is Josef Postránecký, who has been in government service for the last 17 years. His latest posts have been in the Ministry of Interior with previous postings in the Ministry for Regional Development. The post has been created in connection with the reform of the Czech civil service which is aimed at creating a professional and non-politicized administration which falls into line with demands from the European Commission.
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