Daily news summary

Czech foreign minister shocked by situation in the Gaza Strip

Czech Foreign Minister Lubomir Zaoralek is on a three-day visit to the Gaza Strip and Israel. Mr. Zaoralek told reports on Sunday that he was shocked by the situation in the Gaze Strip and would bring up the matter in talks with the Israeli prime minister Benajamin Netanjahu. The minister visited an area severely damaged by the war with Israel and spoke with some of the locals. Mr. Zaoralek is the first Czech top official to visit the Gaza Strip in 15 years.

Czech Central Bank governor says no change on forex policy

Czech Central Bank Governor Miroslav Singer has said he has no plans to change the bank’s forex policy on the crown. Speaking on a debate on Czech public television the bank governor said that the country's economy was developing in line with the central bank's expectations and that forex interventions against the crown would not cease before second half of 2016. On the other hand he noted that it did not appear likely that the bank’s measure against deflation would be extended beyond that time.

Czech aid to the developing world should not decrease

Czech aid to the developing world should not drop below 854 million crowns a year over the next three years, according to a Foreign Ministry proposal that is to be debated by the government on Monday. Deputy Foreign Minister Martin Tlapa told the ctk news agency that the ministry would ideally like to see the amount of aid increased depending on the outcome of EU negotiations relating to migrants and the commitment the country would take on. Currently Czech aid to the developing world amounts to 0.1 percent of the country’s GDP, while the EU recommendation is for it to reach 0.7 percent of the GDP.

Supreme Audit Office says tax evasion still a problem

The collection of taxes –particularly value added tax, consumer tax and personal income tax – has not improved as much as was expected, the Supreme Audit Office concluded in its report on state financing in 2014. The office says the mechanisms that were introduced to curb tax evasion have not proved as effective as the Finance Ministry hoped. The ministry is now striving to push through a bill on the introduction of electronic cash registers which should further improve tax collection.

Defense Ministry to announce tender on servicing of army aircraft

The Czech Defense Ministry is to announce a tender on the servicing of the Czech army’s L-159 and L-39 fighter jets. The commission would involve full post-guarantee servicing and regular maintenance of the aircraft until 2022 for which the army expects to pay around 1.6 billion crowns. The Czech Air Force currently has 19 one-seat L-159 planes, six two-seat L-159 planes and nine L-139 aircraft.

ANO retains edge over party rivals

The ANO party of the centre-left governing coalition continues to outstrip its rivals in popularity polls, the ctk news agency reports. According to the results of a May poll conducted by the agency Aisa, ANO would currently win general elections with 29 percent of the vote. The Social Democrats of the ruling coalition would come second with just over 20 percent and the Communist party would place third with 12 percent of the vote. The opposition right wing TOP 09 party would come fourth with just over 9 percent of the vote and the right wing Civic Democrats would get 8 percent. The junior party of the ruling coalition, the Christian Democrats, would get 6.5 percent.

Šafářová/Sands win doubles at French Open

After losing to Serena Williams in the women’s singles of the French Open on Saturday, Lucie Šafářová won the Women's Doubles Final on Sunday. The team Lucie Šafářová/Bethanie Mattek-Sands beat Casey Dellacqua/Yaroslava Shvedova 3-6 6-4 6-2. After their triumph at the Australian open in January this is their second grand slam title.