Daily news summary

Unemployment climbs to 3.8 percent

Czech unemployment rose in December to 3.8 percent after four months of decline, according to the data released by Czech Labour Office on Tuesday. The figure stood at just over 280,000.

Despite the rise, it is still the lowest December figure since 1997. In December 2016, Czech unemployment stood at 5.2 percent. The number of vacancies increased in December to nearly 217,000, which is almost 3,000 more in November.

Doctors: president is in good health

The health of Czech president Miloš Zeman is in a very good state, his doctors announced at a press conference on Tuesday. According to the doctors, the Czech head of state is in good physical and mental health and is able to carry out the functions of a head of state.

The doctors confirmed that Mr Zeman suffers from diabetes as well as polyfunctional neuropathy, adding that his condition hadn’t worsened. The doctors have also said that they found no trace of cancer.

Celebrations of Czechoslovakia’s foundation to be launched on Tuesday

A ceremony at Prague Castle on Tuesday evening will launch the celebrations of the 100th anniversary of the foundation of Czechoslovakia and 25 years since the foundation of an independent Czech Republic.

The event at the Spanish Hall of Prague Castle will be attended by a number of political and public figures, including Czech President Miloš Zeman, Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš and his Slovak counterpart Robert Fico.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Czech president, along with Cardinal Dominik Duka, are set to open an exhibition called ‘Founded 1918 / At the beginning of the statehood’ at Prague Castle’s Imperial Stables, presenting unique documents and other objects relating to the beginning of the Czech State.

Museum of Romani Culture to take over Lety in March

The Museum of Romani Culture will take over the former pig farm in Lety near Písek, which stands at the site of a WWII Roma concentration camp, in March, its spokesman announced in a press release on Tuesday.

After years of negotiations, the government last year finally agreed with the farm’s owner on a buyout for roughly 450 million crowns. A proper memorial to the victims of the Romany Holocaust is set to be built at the site.

More than 1,300 Roma men, women and children were held at the camp at Lety beginning in 1940: an estimated 327 of them died at the site, largely due to disease; more than 500 of those interned were transported to the Auschwitz death camp in Poland, from which they never returned.

French translator Erica Abrams to receive Karel Čapek Award

French linguist and translator Erica Abrams will be presented with the Karel Čapek Award by the Czech Pen Club on Tuesday.

Abrams studied linguistics, literature and Slavic languages and since 1973 she has repeatedly visited Czechoslovakia and the Czech Republic. She has translated works of many Czech authors, poets, playwrights and philosophers, including Jan Patočka, Ivan Blatný, Ladislav Klíma or Václav Havel, to French.

The Karel Čapek Award was established by the Pen Club’s Czech branch in 1994 and is presented to outstanding writers every two years. Among previous holders of the award are the former president and writer Václav Havel, Arnošt Lustig and Ivan Klíma.

The award will be presented at the Mayor’s seat in Prague on Tuesday evening.

NHL: Jágr's future with Calgary in question - reports

Speculation is growing over the future of star forward Jaromír Jágr with the Calgary Flames in the NHL following a report on Saturday by Sportsnet's Eliotte Friedman that the Flames management had given Jágr's agent Peter Svoboda permission to find an apparent "exit" for the player from the franchise.

The story was also reported by The Hockey News on Monday.

Jágr, a future Hall of Famer and second-most productive player in the history of the NHL (second only to Wayne Gretzky), has suffered from a groin and knee injury and only picked up seven points so far this season. It is unclear whether Jágr, 45, at this point would be able to secure another contract in the NHL although there is reportedly European interest and the player could return to play one last time for the Czech national squad at the upcoming Winter Olympics. Or return to play for his hometown team HC Kladno, a club he owns.

The legendary forward, who has two Stanley Cup rings, won Olympic gold with the Czech team at Nagano in 1998, where the Czechs defeated the US, Canada and Russia in the knock-out stages.

Weather

Wednesday is set to be mostly overcast with occasional rain showers and daytime highs ranging between six and 10 degrees Celsius.