Czech morning news in brief: Top headlines for July 27, 2021

Battery factory for electric vehicles could create 2,300 Czech jobs

On Tuesday, the Czech government and energy company ČEZ will sign a memorandum of support for the construction of a battery factory for electric vehicles, the so-called Gigafactory, in the Czech Republic. The plan was approved by the government, according to Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Industry and Transport Karel Havlíček. The investment should amount to at least CZK 52 billion in the first phase, and at least 2,300 new jobs are expected to be created in connection with the opening of the factory. The Czech Republic, according to estimates, holds about three percent of the world's lithium sources with the vast majority in Cínovec and a small amount in Slavkovský les. The deposit near Cínovec is the largest in Europe.

Czech Republic takes silver and bronze; Vondroušová surprises in Tokyo

Czech tennis player Markéta Vondroušová clinched a surprise win over home-court star Naomi Osaka in the round 16 of Olympic tennis while Barbora Krejčíková and Tomáš Macháč lost their matches. Tuesday the Czech Republic picked up its first medal, a silver for canoeist Lukáš Rohan in the men's slalom while a second medal, a bronze, went to fencer Alexander Choupenitch for the individual men's foil. Sixteen-year-old swimmer Barbora Seemanová qualified for the 200 freestyle finals.

Culture Ministry to purchase Cubist collection for CZK 30 million

The Czech government nodded at the purchase of a Cubist artifact collection from Villa Bauer in Libodrice, Central Bohemia, for CZK 30 million. While some exhibits will remain in Libodrice, others will go on display at the Prague Museum of Decorative Arts, or be loaned abroad, the Culture Ministry said in a press release. Made-to-order furniture and everyday items from the early Czech Cubist period belong to the most valuable parts of the collection and are very scarce in private collections. Culture Minister Lubomír Zaorálek said that in a global context, the collection has no parallel and belongs to the internationally most admired movable cultural heritage of the Czech Republic. The collection encompasses 14 furniture sets of 59 items in total and 160 works of metal and ceramics. In 2018, experts estimated its value at CZK 30.38 million which is the price the ministry will pay for it.

Czech hospital: Breast cancer screening curbed death rate by 30 percent

Mortality from breast cancer has diminished by 30 percent since 2002 when a screening program to detect the disease in the early stages was launched, the General Teaching Hospital in Prague, told reporters Tuesday. Annually, some 1,600 women die from this type of cancer, which newly appears in about 7,300-7,400. Roughly 61 percent of women aged 45-69 take part in the screening exams once in two years, Due to the Covid lockdown last year, the number of preventive examinations of breast cancer fell by about 8 percent. There is a larger problem of a rising number of women who neglect prevention and only come to the doctors in the advanced stages of the illness. The number of its aggressive forms, especially in the older generation, is on the rise.

Czech tourist drowns in Austrian Tyrol

A 60-year-old Czech man, rafting in a large group of Czech tourists on the Isel River in East Tyrol, drowned after his raft overturned near the Austrian town of Matrei on Saturday, the APA Austrian news agency has reported. None of the crew members of this five-seat raft was a qualified water guide though some had experience with white water rafting. The raft capsized in rapids and everyone aboard fell into the water. Four people managed to swim to the shore, but the fifth man was unconscious. The rescuers called in tried to resuscitate him but in vain. His life partner and other friends from the group were given psychological aid. No other rafters suffered injuries.