Czech news in brief for October 19: Saturday's most important headlines

Czech tennis players Patrik Rikl and Petr Nouza advanced to their first career ATP doubles final at the Stockholm Open, beating second-seeded pair Hugo Nys and Jan Zieliski 6-4, 6-4. This marks a career milestone for the duo, who previously only reached the finals at lower levels. In the final they will compete against Harri Helivaara and Henry Patten or Tallon Greekpoor and Bart Stevens.

A man and a woman were seriously injured after a construction lift collapsed at a home renovation site in Oech, near Prague. The elevator cable snapped, causing it to fall from about the second floor. The woman was taken to Motol Hospital, while the man was taken by ambulance. Police are investigating the incident, which took place late Saturday morning.

A bear attacked an elderly mushroom picker near the village of Kanianka, in the Slovak region of Trenn, on Saturday morning. The aggressive bear, a female with two cubs, attacked the man in a forest between Tovce and Poruba. Rescue teams sent an ambulance and a helicopter to confirm that the man was conscious despite his injuries. Authorities deployed a response team to euthanize the bear and urged residents to avoid the area. This latest incident follows a fatal bear attack in early October.

A drunk driver in Ostrava struck and seriously injured a pedestrian who, perhaps ironically, was also wanted by authorities for drunk driving. The accident happened shortly after midnight when the 23-year-old driver drove onto the sidewalk and struck the 40-year-old man. During the on-scene investigation, police discovered that the injured pedestrian was also wanted, and a prosecutor agreed to his arrest.

Czech table tennis player Hana Matelov has secured at least a bronze medal after advancing to the doubles semi-finals at the European Championships in Linz. Together with Slovakian partner Barbora Balov, they defeated the Swedish duo Linda Bergstrm and Christina Kllberg in the quarterfinals. In the semi-finals they will face the Slovak-Polish duo Tatiana Kukukov and Natalia Bajorov.

Businesses forced to suspend operations due to recent flooding can apply for state wage subsidies in November. The Labor Office will reimburse half of the wages paid to employees or contractors during the work stoppage, up to a maximum of CZK 18,400 per employee. The Povode 2024 program, approved by the government in early October, is expected to cost around CZK 1 billion. The grants are intended to help businesses recover in the affected regions, with the exception of Prague and three other areas.

If an audit by the Ministry for Regional Development shows that contractors responsible for the digitalization of the Czech building permit (DS) systems are underperforming, they could face consequences, Minister Petr Kulhnek said. The audit will examine the quality of the systems' software and hardware, for which CZK 330 million has already been invoiced. The systems launched this summer have faced several issues. The results of the audit are expected in January 2025.

Marek Vborn has been re-elected as leader of the Czech Christian Democrats (KDU-SL), defeating outgoing chairman Marian Jureka in a second round of voting at the party congress. Vborn, who stepped down as leader in 2020 due to family reasons, emphasized continuity and bringing in new faces. He wants to strengthen the party in the run-up to next year's parliamentary elections. Vborn also thanked Jureka for his leadership and emphasized the need for unity within KDU-SL and the Together coalition.

The Slovak Prosecutor General's Office has dropped its investigation into Czech journalist Kristina Crokov and others reporting on sects, including the AllatRa movement. Crokov, who works for Seznam Zprvy, was accused of promoting a movement that suppresses rights, but the prosecutor's office ruled that the act was not criminal. The investigation was criticized by the editors of Seznam Zprvy, who labeled it as harassment.

The Czech Interior Ministry has denied claims that the state will not complete an in-depth pyrotechnic investigation in Vrbtice following the 2014 ammunition depot explosions. Ministry spokesperson Miroslav Jaurek stated that the ministry, in cooperation with other departments and the Zln region, is working on a solution. The 2014 blasts, blamed on Russian GRU agents, claimed two lives, and experts have so far explored only up to 50cm below the surface.