Daily news summary

Two Czechs accused of belonging to Kurdish militia group sentenced by Turkish court

Two Czechs accused of being part of the Kurdish militia YPG were sentenced in a Turkish court on Wednesday to six years three months each. The two, Marketa Všelichová and Miroslav Farkas, could have faced maximum jail sentences of 15 years. They say they were humanitarian workers who aimed to create a field hospital in an area near the Turkish-Iraqi border. Turkey regards the YPG as a terrorist organisation. They were detained in November last year. The vedict can be appealed.

Czech foreign minister describes disappointment on Turkish verdict

Czech Foreign Minister Lubomír Zaorálek responded to Wednesday’s verdict by describing it as a “huge personal disappointment” and expressing hope that the appeal to a higher court would re-examine the facts and overrule the earlier verdict. In a statement, the ministry confirmed that the head of Czech diplomacy would contact his Turkish counterpart in the coming days about the case. In the meantime, the ministry will give all its possible help, it said. Pending a likely appeal, the two Czechs, remain in custody.

Association says export growth headed for 10 percent to end of year

The Czech Association of Exporters has suggested that export growth will continue at more than 10 percent till the end of the year. That should result in a record export figure of 3.5 trillion crowns for 2017, according to the association. The biggest question mark over the figure is whether labour shortages in certain key sectors of the Czech economy will start to bite more and whether the key auto industry sector will face a slowdown or production stoppages.

Komerční Banka sees H1 net profit climb by 15 percent

One of the Czech Republic’s biggest four banks, Komerční Banka, announced a 15 percent rise in net profit to 7.7 billion crowns for the first half of the year on Wednesday compared with the same period in 2017. Loans over the period rose by 5.1 percent to 600 billion crowns. The bank is just over 60 percent owned by France’s Société Generale.

Health minister seeks budget boost for 2018

Minister of Health Miloslav Ludvík, Social Democrat, met with finance minister, Ivan Pilný, ANO, Wednesday to seek a boost in the [proposed budget for his ministry for 2018. Ludvík is seeking 3.7 billion crowns more, a slight drop from his May demand that the health budget be boosted by 4.3 billion crowns. The original proposed health budget for 2018 was 6947 billion crowns, a 311 million crown drop on the projected spend for 2017. Later the minister said that his demands had been cut to 2.0 billion crowns but this was cutting to the bone.

Vrba: Playing for scoreless draw against FCSB would be suicidal

Viktoria Plzeň manager Pavel Vrba says it would be suicidal for his team to play for a 0:0 draw in the second leg of their Champions League third qualifying round tie with Romanian club FCSB on Wednesday night. The first leg in Bucharest ended 2:2, so a 0:0 or 1:1 draw would be enough to see Plzeň through. If the Czech club advance they will reach the playoffs for the Champions League and also guarantee themselves a place in the Europa League, if they fail to get to the main competition. Slavia Prague are in the same position and take a 1:0 home win into their second leg game with BATE Borisov in Belarus.

16th century wooden church destroyed by fire in Moravia

A valuable 16th century wooden church in north Moravia was destroyed in a fire on Tuesday night. Ten fire units were dispatched to the deal with the blaze at Guty near Frýdek-Místek but it was already engulfed in flames when they arrived, a spokesperson for the local fire service said. He said it was impossible to put a monetary value on the church’s historical significance. Built in the 1560s and extensively renovated earlier this decade, the Church of the Body of God was originally Lutheran.

Weather

Rain is expected in the west and parts of central Bohemia on Thursday but it should remain cloudy with sunny intervals in the rest of the country. Top temperatures will range between 28 and 34 degrees Celsius.