Daily news summary

Canoeist Dostál takes first silver for Czechs in Rio

The Czech team has its first silver medal from the Rio Olympics and its seventh overall. It was won on Tuesday by canoeist Josef Dostál in the 1000 metres kayak single. Dostál, who is 23, adds that honour to a previous triumph at the Canoe Sprint World Championships. He will have another chance to climb the podium in Rio when he takes part in the kayak four event.

Gold medal hero Krpálek among 30 Czech athletes back from Rio

Gold medal hero Krpálek among 30 Czech athletes back from Rio

More than 30 members of the Czech team at the Olympic Games have arrived back in the Czech Republic. Among those who landed at Prague’s Kbely airfield on a Czech Army plane on Tuesday morning were Lukáš Krpálek, a judo gold medal winner, and Ondřej Synek and Jiří Prskavec, who took bronze in single sculls and water slalom respectively. The returned athletes immediately travelled to Lake Lipno in South Bohemia to appear at an Olympic park run by the Czech Olympic Committee.

Kudlička comes fourth in pole vault in Rio

The Czech Republic’s Jan Kudlička came fourth in the final of the men’s pole vault at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro on Tuesday. Kudlička’s best clearance was of 5.75 metres, some 10 cm short of the best achieved by the athlete who took bronze. The Czech shared fourth spot with Piotr Lisek of Poland. Kudlička said he was pleased with his performance and that the medal winners had simply been better.

Extra billion crowns to go toward university teachers’ pay in 2017

An extra CZK 1 billion is set to go toward university teachers’ pay next year, the minister of education, Kateřina Valachová, said after talks with Finance Minister Andrej Babiš on Tuesday. Minister Valachová said the news meant that third level institutions could now count on receiving a clear amount in 2017. She had previously negotiated CZK 350 million to increase school capacity around Prague. No further budget talks with Minister Babiš will take place, Ms. Valachová told reporters.

Industry and transport ministries get budget increases

The Ministry of Industry and Trade will receive around CZK 1 billion more in 2017 than this year from the state coffers, Industry Minister Jan Mládek told reporters on Tuesday after a meeting with Finance Minister Andrej Babiš. Mr Mládek’s department will next year receive CZK 30.7 billion. The Ministry of Transport will see a bigger budget increase, receiving an additional CZK 3 billion this year and CZK 2 billion in 2017. Most of the money will go on 10 major transport projects.

Two die in helicopter crash in West Bohemia

Two people died when a helicopter crashed in West Bohemia on Tuesday, a police spokesperson said. The accident occurred between the villages of Rybnice and Kaznějov at around 15:30. The impact of the crash was so devastating that neither the age nor the gender of the victims was immediately apparent, a spokesperson for the local rescue services told the Czech News Agency.

Russian artist gives Havel-linked prize to group accused of killing police

Russian performance artist Peter Pavlensky gave his Havel Prize for Creative Dissent to a businessman who pledged to fund a Russian group whose members have been found guilty of killing policemen, Reuters reported. Mr. Pavlensky presented the award to Yevgeni Chichvarkin in Prague on Monday. The latter pledged to donate USD 42,000 to the group Primorsky Partisans, some of whose members have been convicted of killing police officers. That amount corresponds to the cash prize that goes with the Havel award; it is bestowed by the Human Rights Foundation, which rescinded the award and the money over Mr. Pavlensky’s support for the Primorsky Partisans.

Tuesday 70th anniversary of registration of tractor firm Zetor

Tuesday marks the 70th anniversary of the registration of the internationally successful Zetor tractor company. The brand name combined “zet” (“zed”) and the last two letters of “tractor”, with the “zet” referring to the first letter of the enterprise Zbrojovka Brno, of which Zetor was a subsidiary until 1990. While Zetor is a Czech firm, versions of its tractors are assembled in several countries, among them Argentina, India, Uruguay and Iraq.

Berdych excited about new coach Ivanisevic

Czech men’s tennis number one Tomáš Berdych says he is excited about working with his new coach Goran Ivanisevic. Speaking in Cincinnati ahead of the first tournament at which the Croat is coaching him, Berdych told the ATP tour website that he thought Ivanisevic was the person he was looking for. The Czech’s highest ever world ranking is fourth. He has 12 ATP titles to his name but has never won a Grand Slam.

Statistics office: Czech economy slowed in second quarter

Czech economic growth slowed to 2.5 percent year-on-year in the second quarter of 2016, while the GDP rose by 0.9 percent, the Czech Statistics Office has revealed its estimate. In the first quarter the economy grew by 3.0 percent and the GDP by 0.4 percent. Industry and services played a crucial role while GDP growth was boosted by foreign demand and household consumption.

Eight people died on Czech roads on Monday

Eight people died in accidents on Monday, the worst in a single day on Czech roads for 2016, the police confirmed. Nine others suffered serious injuries. Prior to Monday, March 18 and July 31 saw the highest number of fatalities, with seven. In the first half of August saw 32 traffic fatalities.