• Weather forecast
    08/16/2023

    Thursday should be clear to partly cloudy with temperatures between 26 and 31 degrees Celsius.

  • Ratification of Czech-American Defense Cooperation Agreement completed
    08/16/2023

    Prime Minister Petr Fiala has signed the Czech-American Defense Cooperation Agreement, thus completing the document’s ratification. It was earlier signed by President Petr Pavel and approved by both chambers of Parliament.

    The Defense Cooperation Agreement sets a legal framework for possible deployment of US troops on Czech territory, dealing with issues from jurisdiction over foreign troops to environmental issues or rules for operating vehicles.

  • One in five Czech secondary school students financially illiterate
    08/16/2023

    One in five first-year secondary school students in Czechia are financially illiterate, according to a report from the Czech School Inspectorate. One in three demonstrated an excellent level of financial literacy. The students were questioned about everyday financial activities such as safe payment behaviour and  household management. Although some schools have introduced financial literacy classes the main source of information regarding money is still the family.

  • EGAP insuring Czech business interests in Ukraine
    08/16/2023

    After a year’s break, the state-owned company EGAP (Export Guarantee and Insurance Corporation) has once again started insuring the business interests of Czech companies in Ukraine. It has opened a special fund for this purpose and has already received about two dozen applications in three weeks. The companies interested are mainly agricultural equipment manufacturers and food producers. The state fund for companies doing business in Ukraine has 340 million crowns at its disposal. The applications received by the insurance company so far amount to 200 million.

    The Export Guarantee and Insurance Corporation (EGAP) is a specialised state-owned credit insurance company focused on the insurance of territorial and non-marketable commercial risks connected with exports of goods, services and investments from the Czech Republic.

  • Seznam: IKEM head made millions from usury
    08/16/2023

    According to the news site Seznam, the director of the Institute of Clinical and Experimental Medicine (IKEM) in Prague, Michal Stiborek, made tens of millions of crowns in recent years by lending money at exorbitant interest rates and high contractual penalties. Seznam says that in at least one case, a court found that the interest on late payments was immorally high. Stiborek dismissed the claims as an attempt to discredit him and remove him from the hospital's management. Prime Minister Petr Fiala said he considers the findings serious and is calling for the matter to be clarified as soon as possible.

    According to Seznam, the company Glenias House, of which Stiborek is the sole managing director and owner, lent money through Califica, to which it gradually sent at least 54 million crowns. Califica, controlled by Jaroslav Holan, who was convicted in an embezzlement case, subsequently lent money to individuals at an interest rate of 48 percent per year and with contractual penalties of 140,000 crowns per day.
    Author: Daniela Lazarová

  • Clean-up work underway in Karlovy Vary in wake of severe storms
    08/16/2023

    Clean-up work is underway in the Karlovy Vary region where severe storms flooded streets, felled trees and even caused mudslides on Tuesday afternoon. Firefighters were called to 18 emergencies in the space of an hour. Moravská Street in the historical centre of Karlovy Vary, where torrential rain undermined cobblestones, will reportedly be closed for some time. According to preliminary estimates the damage caused will amount to tens of millions of crowns. A storm warning for the whole country remains in place on Wednesday.
    Author: Daniela Lazarová

  • Sparta Prague out of Champions League after losing to FC Copenhagen
    08/16/2023

    Sparta Prague dropped out of the Champions League after losing 2:4 on penalties to FC Copenhagen on home ground on Tuesday. Sparta will now focus on qualifying for the Europa League.

  • Weather forecast
    08/15/2023

    Meteorologists have declared a storm warning for the western parts of Czechia on Tuesday afternoon and evening and expanded it to the whole country on Wednesday.

    Wednesday should be clear to partly cloudy, with scattered showers and afternoon storms in places, and daytime temperatures between 29 and 32 degrees Celsius.

  • Protests against expanding moldavite mining near České Budějovice
    08/15/2023

    Local inhabitants, environmental associations and the municipal council of Ločenice near České Budějovice are against the expansion of moldavite mining in the area. A private company wants to build a new quarry on thirty hectares of land believed to be rich in moldavite. Locals have been signing a petition against the plan and the Czech Environmental Inspectorate also has reservations. The inspectorate has asked the company MAWE CK, which wants to expand its activities in the area, to commission a study which will, among other things, assess the impact of further mining on the landscape. Moldavites are bottle-green gemstones found almost exclusively in Czechia, with minor deposits in neighboring Germany and Austria.
    Author: Daniela Lazarová

  • Scientists say climate change causing upward shift in the forest ecotone of Krkonoše Mountains
    08/15/2023

    Czech scientists have registered an upward shift in the forest ecotone of the Krkonoše Mountains (Giant Mountains) in recent decades, which is attributed to global warming. The line where trees change to low shrubs and grassland has been moving upwards at a rate of about half a meter per year. According to Václav Treml from the Faculty of Sciences at Charles University this is one of the most visible manifestations of climate change in the country. Treml’s research team has monitored the changes in the so-called transition zone since 2017.
    Author: Daniela Lazarová

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