• Police want to indict four people for investment fraud causing damages of 623 million CZK
    11/14/2025

    Police have proposed charging four people over an investment fraud that caused damages of at least 623 million crowns. Three Czech citizens and one foreign national face a maximum sentence of ten years in prison. According to investigators, they harmed more than 1,500 clients by soliciting money under the pretense of establishing trust funds and promising a nine-percent return on deposits. Jaroslav Ibehej, spokesman for the National Centre for Organized Crime (NCOZ), informed the news agency ČTK of this on Friday. Media have previously reported that the case concerns the company Invest & Property Consulting (IPC).
    Author: Jakub Ferenčík

  • Czech team beats San Marino 1–0 in Köstl’s debut
    11/14/2025

    The Czech national football team defeated San Marino 1–0 in a friendly in Karviná, marking the first match under interim coach Jaroslav Köstl. Captain Tomáš Souček scored in the 40th minute, shortly after missing a penalty.

    The win ended a three-match streak without a victory. The team remains in contention for second place in its World Cup qualifying group and will conclude its November schedule on Monday against Gibraltar. FIFA rankings will determine the play-off seeding.
    Author: Ruth Fraňková

  • Coalition refuses program changes, Babiš to address conflict of interest only ahead of appointment
    11/14/2025

    The new coalition between ANO, SPD, and Motorists will not revise its program despite President Petr Pavel’s Wednesday request to add the government’s stance on Russia’s war against Ukraine, include a commitment to fulfilling NATO obligations and outline plans to raise defence spending. Coalition leaders agreed on the stance Thursday evening.

    ANO party leader Andrej Babiš said the program reflects a compromise among coalition partners. He added he will outline how he plans to resolve his conflict of interest shortly before the president appoints him prime minister. The coalition aims to set a timeline next week for announcing ministerial nominees and wants to pass the state budget in time to avoid a provisional one.
    Author: Ruth Fraňková

  • Czech Central Bank buys bitcoin and digital assets worth nearly CZK 21 million
    11/13/2025

    The Czech National Bank (ČNB) has purchased blockchain-based digital assets worth around USD 1 million (CZK 20.9 million) to gain practical experience in holding such assets. The test portfolio includes Bitcoin, dollar-pegged stablecoins, and tokenized deposits, but will not be part of the bank’s official foreign reserves.

    The ČNB will not actively increase the investment, though its value may fluctuate with the market. The trial, representing just 0.0006% of the bank’s reserves, is expected to last two to three years, after which the results will be evaluated.

    The assets were bought via a regulated exchange complying with anti-money laundering (AML) rules. The bank stressed that it currently has no plans to include Bitcoin or other digital assets in its official reserves.
    Author: Ruth Fraňková

  • Weather forecast
    11/13/2025

    Friday will be partly cloudy with occasional fog. Daytime temperatures will range between 9 and 14 degrees Celsius, dropping to around 7 degrees in places with fog or low cloud.
    Author: Ruth Fraňková

  • JAMU to award honorary doctorate to British scenographer Pamela Howard
    11/13/2025

    The Janáček Academy of Performing Arts (JAMU) in Brno will award an honorary doctorate to British scenographer and director Pamela Howard. The ceremony will take place in November.

    Howard has taught at leading art schools and worked with major British and international theatres, including the Royal Shakespeare Company. She received the Order of the British Empire in 2008.

    Howard has a long-standing connection to Czech theatre and has collaborated with the Prague Quadrennial and the National Theatre Brno, where she staged Bohuslav Martinů’s The Marriage and Janáček’s The Excursion of Mr Brouček to the Moon.
    Author: Ruth Fraňková

  • Czech gas storage 93% full, meeting EU targets
    11/13/2025

    Gas storage tanks in Czechia are 93 percent full this November, several points higher than a year ago, the Industry and Trade Ministry announced on Thursday. This means the country meets EU rules requiring at least 90 percent capacity. The EU introduced minimum storage targets after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

    Gas now flows to Czechia mainly from Germany, with supplies sourced from Norway, Algeria and LNG terminals in the Netherlands. The main operator of gas storage sites is the state-owned Gas Storage CZ, with additional capacity run by MND, part of Karel Komárek’s KKCG group.
    Author: Ruth Fraňková

  • Use of antibiotics in Czechia up 16 percent in five years
    11/13/2025

    The number of antibiotic prescriptions in Czechia has risen by 16 percent over the past five years to 5.7 million, the General Health Insurance Company (VZP) said on Thursday. The country ranks among Europe’s biggest consumers of antibiotics.

    Experts say antibiotics should be used only for bacterial infections such as pneumonia or strep throat, not for viral illnesses like colds or flu, as overuse increases bacterial resistance and can make common infections harder to treat.

    VZP data show the insurer paid CZK 1 billion for antibiotics last year, up from CZK 794 million in 2020. The EU estimates about 35,000 deaths annually from antibiotic resistance; in Czechia, around 500 people died in 2020.
    Author: Ruth Fraňková

  • People pay their respects to late Cardinal Duka at Prague Castle
    11/13/2025

    Dozens of people, including visitors from abroad, have come to pay their respects to Cardinal Dominik Duka at the Church of All Saints at Prague Castle. The cardinal’s coffin is on display from 12:00 to 21:00 today and will be open again on Friday from 13:00 to 16:00.

    On Saturday, funeral ceremonies and a requiem will take place at St. Vitus Cathedral, attended by foreign delegations as well as domestic guests, including President Petr Pavel and his predecessors Miloš Zeman and Václav Klaus.
    Author: Ruth Fraňková

  • Poll shows strong re-election prospects for President Pavel
    11/13/2025

    President Petr Pavel has a strong chance of winning a second term, according to a survey carried out by the STEM/MARK agency in October. The poll found that 58 percent of respondents would definitely or probably vote for him.

    Among 40 well-known public figures included in the survey, 45 percent said they would choose actor and TV host Marek Eben, who has repeatedly ruled out running, and 40 percent said they would support ANO party leader and prime ministerial candidate Andrej Babiš.

    The ideal future president, respondents said, should be politically experienced, assertive, pro-Western and non-partisan. The perceived importance of the presidency has also risen since the spring, the STEM/MARK poll suggests. The next presidential election is scheduled for 2028.
    Author: Ruth Fraňková

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