• 07/13/2024

    Tributes are planned for the most successful Czech pop singer ever, Karel Gott, who would have turned 85 on Sunday. Czech Television is running a number of programmes dedicated to the multi-million selling artist over the weekend, while radio stations said they would play his hits. Some fans plan to visit his grave in Prague.

    Meanwhile a large Karel Gott tribute concert is planned for Prague’s O2 Arena in November, featuring such artists as Lucie Bilá, Michal David and Richard Krajčo.

    The singer died of leukaemia in October 2019 at the age of 80.

    Author: Ian Willoughby
  • 07/13/2024

    The head of the Czech Army says nobody can deny that Russia is currently the most urgent, direct and grave threat to Europe. Karel Řehka made the comment in a discussion in the US city of Houston on Friday reflecting on 25 years of Czech membership of NATO and the 75th anniversary of the foundation of the alliance.

    The head of the General Staff of the Czech Army said that a NATO summit in Washington during the week had shown that the organisation was essential for security and defence.

    Author: Ian Willoughby
  • 07/13/2024

    The Czech president, Petr Pavel, met with representatives of major US energy companies in the US city of Houston on Friday. Speaking afterwards, he said he had discussed energy security and possible sources of oil and gas from countries other than Russia with executives from ExxonMobil and Chevron. More such talks will be held in future, he said.

    The Czech head of state said that he believed that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had been satisfied with the outcome of a NATO summit in Washington during the week. Mr. Pavel also said that Czechia had offered Ukraine medical assistance following a Russian attack on a children’s hospital.

    Author: Ian Willoughby
  • 07/13/2024

    It should be mainly overcast in Czechia on Sunday, with an average high temperature of 25 degrees Celsius. Similar weather is expected on the following days.

    Author: Ian Willoughby
  • 07/12/2024

    Czech tennis player Kateřina Siniaková and her American doubles partner Taylor Townsend have made it to the finals of the women's doubles tournament at Wimbledon. The pair beat Belgium's Elise Mertens, the current world No. 1 in doubles, and her Taiwanese partner, Hsieh Su-wei, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 in the semi-finals on Friday.

    Siniaková and Townsend will next face Canada's Gabriela Dabrowski and New Zealand's Erin Routliffe for a chance to be the overall winners and take home the prize money.

    Author: Anna Fodor
  • 07/12/2024

    West Ham midfielder Tomáš Souček has been awarded the Golden Ball for Czech football player of the year for the fourth time. The 29-year-old Czech national team captain beat Ladislav Krejčí, who recently signed a contract with Spanish club Girona, by 280 points. Souček's West Ham teammate, right-back Vladimír Coufal, came third in this year’s competition.

    Souček previously clinched the prize in 2020, 2021 and 2023. While last year he won by just a single point ahead of Fiorentina midfielder Antonín Barák, this time he had a significant lead.

    The Golden Ball is awarded each year to the best Czech footballer as decided by a poll of the country’s sports journalists. The results of the poll, now in its 28th year, were announced on Friday in Prague.

    Author: Anna Fodor
  • 07/12/2024

    Rain is expected on Saturday morning, turning into cloudy or overcast skies in the afternoon. Daytime temperatures are predicted to range between 19 and 25 degrees Celsius.

    Author: Anna Fodor
  • 07/12/2024

    Prime Minister Petr Fiala said after a meeting with Czech MEPs at his official Prague residence, Kramář's Villa, on Friday that it is important for the country's MEPs to work together on certain issues, regardless of political orientation or party affiliation. He gave the example of nuclear energy as an area in which cooperation was important.

    He added that the impact and influence Czech MEPs will have in the European Parliament depends not only on their membership in the EP's various political groups but also on their abilities as individuals.

    Author: Anna Fodor
  • 07/12/2024

    Christian Democrat MP and head of the European Affairs Committee Ondřej Benešík has accused the British ambassador to Czechia, Matt Field, of describing Czechia and Czechs as being intolerant. In an interview with the Czech daily Deník N published on Friday, he said that the British ambassador was "trying to educate us" about tolerance while his own country, in his words, "tolerates intolerant Islam".

    The interview followed a social media post that Mr Benešík made on X, which has since been deleted, in which he tagged the British ambassador and asked him what he had to say about a video of a recently elected British Muslim MP "swearing in", or taking the parliamentary oath of allegiance to the country, using the Koran. The ambassador responded by saying he wasn't quite sure whether he understood the question, but that in the UK, MPs can swear in either using a religious text of their choosing or they can choose to take a non-religious solemn affirmation.

    Author: Anna Fodor
  • 07/12/2024

    MEPs from Andrej Babiš's opposition ANO party did not attend a meeting with Prime Minister Petr Fiala on Friday because of his earlier statement that the new Patriots for Europe parliamentary group, of which ANO is a member, serves Russian interests, a spokesperson for the party said.

    Mr Fiala commented on the matter on social media site X, saying that while MEPs from almost all elected parties across the political spectrum attended the meeting at the prime minister's official Prague residence, ANO MEPs did not. He wrote that Andrej Babiš had probably forbidden them from attending, which showed that the party was clearly not concerned with the interests of the Czech Republic at all.

    The prime minister had said on Monday that the new European Parliament group Patriots for Europe, of which several far-right and populist parties from different European countries are now members, serves the interests of Russia whether wittingly or unwittingly, and thus threatens the freedom and security of Europe. Mr. Babiš hit back, saying that the prime minister is a pathological liar.

    Author: Anna Fodor

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