• Ceremony at National Memorial marks anniversary of end of WWII
    05/08/2022

    A ceremony marking the 77th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe was held at the National Memorial at Prague’s Vítkov on Sunday morning. Among those taking part in the annual event were President Miloš Zeman, Prime Minister Petr Fiala, Minister of Defence Jana Černochová, Czech Army head Aleš Opata and the speakers of both the upper house of Parliament, Miloš Vystrčil, and the lower house, Markéta Pekarová Adamová.

    War veterans were among those who watched a wreath-laying ceremony at Vítkov’s Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

    Many other events are being held around the Czech Republic to mark the anniversary of the war, which is a state holiday.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Weather forecast
    05/08/2022

    It should be mainly sunny in the Czech Republic on Monday, with an average high temperature of 20 degrees Celsius. The following days will see temperatures reaching up to the mid 20s Celsius but overcast skies.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Fewer than 250 new Covid cases recorded in CR Saturday
    05/08/2022

    Some 238 new cases of Covid-19 were registered in the Czech Republic on Saturday, down from over 600 on the same day a week earlier. It was the lowest one day tally since September. Testing has also dropped markedly; over 4,000 PCR and lateral flow tests were conducted on Saturday, a week-on-week decline of 2,800.

    There were 380 people in hospital with the coronavirus, 280 lower than seven days earlier and the lowest figure in seven months.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Czech cardiologists expect increase in heart problems
    05/07/2022

    Czech cardiologists expect an increase in the incidence of heart problems, in particular heart failure and cardiac arrests. In a press release the Czech Cardiology Society, whose members are meeting in Brno on Sunday, said the causes were fear of contracting Covid-19, the postponement of preventative care and the war in Ukraine; people with heart conditions will arrive within the refugee wave while the related economic impact will take its toll on the Czech population, they professional association said.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Fitch revises outlook for Czech economy from stable to negative
    05/07/2022

    The international credit rating agency Fitch has revised its assessment of the Czech Republic’s economy. While Fitch has maintained the country’s AA- rating, which is one level below the highest possible level, it revised outlook for the Czech Republic from stable to negative. The company cited problems such as reduced growth prospects, very strong inflationary pressures and dependence on Russian energy.

    The Czech News Agency said the move meant that Fitch could in the near future also lower its assessment of the Czech Republic’s abilities to pay its international debt.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Rychetský facing legal action over Klaus statements
    05/07/2022

    Legal action is being taken Czech Constitutional Court chief Pavel Rychetský after comments he made in connection with ex-president Václav Klaus.  Pavel Macinka from the Václav Klaus Institute told the Czech News Agency that he filed a suit over slander against Mr. Rychetský after he said in a radio interview that he believed the Václav Klaus Institute was financially supported by Russia and that it played a similar role to Russian internet Russian trolls in supporting barbaric actions.

    Mr. Klaus said after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine that attacking another country was unacceptable. More recently he said that the veracity of the images from Bucha in Ukraine, where international media reported atrocities had been carried out by Russia, needed to be ascertained.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Weather forecast
    05/07/2022

    It should be mainly overcast in the Czech Republic on Sunday, with an average high temperature of 20 degrees Celsius. The start of the new week is expected to see sunny skies.

  • Friday sees lowest weekday Covid tally since September
    05/07/2022

    Some 794 new cases of Covid-19 were recorded in the Czech Republic on Friday, which was the lowest tally for a weekday since the end of September. The number was 640 down on the same day last week.

    Testing numbers are also down; since the ending of a state of pandemic emergency this week people are no longer eligible for one free test a month.

    Fewer than 450 people were in hospital with the coronavirus on Friday.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Covid measures had CZK 306 billion impact on Czech economy in 2021
    05/07/2022

    The Czech government says anti-Covid measures and related impacts on revenues and outlays impacted the state budget last year to the tune of CZK 306 billion, according to the draft state closing account for 2021.

    That figure was CZK 69 billion higher than the negative impact of the coronavirus on the economy in 2020, the year the pandemic hit the country, in March.

    Changes in legislation last year cost CZK 152.4 billion while additional health care costs reached CZK 159.4 billion. The state earned an extra CZK 5.7 billion, from for instance the sale of vaccines.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Prague to strip Red Army commander Konev of honorary citizenship
    05/07/2022

    The Prague authorities plan to strip the late Soviet military commander Ivan Konev of his honorary citizenship of the city, the Czech News Agency reported. A document Mayor Zdeněk Hřib is due to submit to councillors on Monday says the reasons for the move include the Soviets’ bombardment of Mladá Boleslav a day after the end of the war and Konev’s leading role in the crackdown on the 1956 uprising in Hungary.

    Konev, who led the Red Army’s liberation of Prague, became an honorary citizen of the city in June 1945. A street in the Žižkov district is named after him and there have been calls to rename it in recent years.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

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