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According to NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, the Czech Republic has been a reliable ally since joining the alliance and is committed to contributing to collective defense. He recalled that, due to the global security situation, NATO decided last year to increase defense spending. Rutte said this after today’s meeting with Prime Minister Andrej Babiš (ANO).

“Increasing defense spending is essential so that we have the forces, resources, and capabilities to protect our populations. We know—and this applies to all allies—that decisions on budgets and raising defense funds are not easy. In the end, however, security is the foundation of prosperity,” Rutte said.

He praised the continuation of the ammunition initiative, adding that it has a real impact and calling on allies to keep funding it. This year’s NATO summit in Ankara is expected to focus on meeting commitments such as higher investment in defense and boosting defense production, he added.

During Wednesday’s road safety operation Speed Marathon, police in the Czech Republic recorded 3,188 offences, of which 1,910 involved exceeding the speed limit. Both figures are higher than in last year’s comparable operation, even though police checked fewer vehicles this year. This follows information published on the police website.

Locations where speed would be measured were, as in previous years, announced in advance by the police. Officers also uncovered around twenty cases of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

One example of significantly excessive speed was a driver in Děčín on Wednesday morning, who was measured at 99 km/h in a 50 km/h zone. Another driver in the Zlín Region exceeded the 90 km/h limit outside built-up areas, reaching 137 km/h.

According to a police spokesperson, fines for speeding issued nationwide exceeded 3.3 million CZK; last year the total was about 3.2 million CZK.

In recent years, between 20 and 30 extremely premature babies weighing less than 500 grams have been born each year in the Czech Republic.

At the Institute for the Care of Mother and Child in Prague-Podolí, doctors are currently caring for five such infants; the smallest weighed just 390 grams at birth. They are given caffeine, and milk is administered to them by spoon.

“Each hospitalization of an extremely premature newborn represents thousands of hours of specialized care and enormous commitment from the entire team,” said Jan Širc from Charles University.

While mothers and babies after uncomplicated births are often discharged from hospital after 48 hours, extremely premature newborns remain in hospital for an average of 140 days—almost half a year.

Solar panels have started to increase in price, with their cost rising by as much as 50% since the beginning of this year. Just last year, however, panel prices in the Czech Republic were dropping at a record rate. The reversal in the price trend has been driven mainly by rising costs of key raw materials, as well as increased demand and higher logistics expenses. This follows from information provided by the solar company Greenbuddies. Companies in the sector no longer expect prices to decrease.

According to solar firms, several factors are behind this shift. One of them is adjustments in production capacity and rising prices of input materials. These have been influenced, for example, by changes in China, as noted by the company Raylyst Solar. Since the beginning of this year, China has tightened its energy and environmental standards for processing silicon, a key component used in solar panel production.