• Czech foreign minister expects strenuous post-Brexit negotiations
    12/13/2019

    Following Boris Johnson’s sweeping victory in Britain’s parliamentary elections on Friday, Czech Foreign Minister Tomáš Petříček said he anticipated complicated negotiations about post-Brexit relations.

    Mr Petříček said that although he was personally disappointed by Britain’s planned departure from the European Union, it was important for the Czech Republic to focus on future cooperation with Great Britain. He also said he understood the need for British voters to move on.
    Author: Ruth Fraňková

  • Newborn boy found in babybox in České Budějovice
    12/12/2019

    A newborn boy was placed in a babybox in the South Bohemian town of České Budějovice on Thursday morning. It is the 18th child this year to be abandoned in this manner. Ludvík Hess, the founder of the Czech babybox network, said the little boy was found in a good condition.

    There are currently 76 such facilities monitored by doctors, across the Czech Republic. Altogether 198 babies were saved through baby-boxes since the system was introduced in 2005.
    Author: Ruth Fraňková

  • General Opata: purchase of US helicopters move forward for Czech army
    12/12/2019

    Czech Minister of Defence Lubomír Metnar is due to sign a deal on the purchase of twelve US helicopters for the Czech Army with his US counterpart Mark Esper in Washington on Thursday.

    The ministry has agreed to buy eight utility UH-1Y Venom helicopters and four AH-1Z attacks Viper helicopters from US company Bell for CZK 14.6 billion. They are due for delivery in 2023.

    According to the Czech army chief of staff, Aleš Opata, the purchase is a step into the 21st century for the Czech Army. He also said he expected the helicopters to be used in military missions, as soon as the military personnel are trained to use them.
    Author: Ruth Fraňková

  • Weather
    12/12/2019

    Friday is expected to be mostly overcast with daytime temperatures ranging between 0 and 4 degrees Celsius.
    Author: Ruth Fraňková

  • Minimum respectable salary in Czechia is CZK 31,463
    12/12/2019

    Minimum respectable salary in the Czech Republic, which would cover the basic needs, as well as entertainment and small-time savings, is CZK 31,463, according to experts from Czech Sociological Institute and Fridrich Ebert Foundation. In Prague, the sum is CZK 36, 850, due to higher costs of living.

    The average gross monthly salary in the Czech Republic reached CZK 33,697 in the third quarter of 2019. However, 50 percent of Czechs earn less than CZK 29,549, including people with a university education, such as teachers, social workers or professional musicians.
    Author: Ruth Fraňková

  • Prague councillors approve signing of sister-city pact with Taipei
    12/12/2019

    The Prague City Hall assembly on Thursday approved the signing of a sister-city agreement with the capital of Taiwan, Taipei. According to Prague mayor Zdeněk Hřib, the agreement should be apolitical and cover cooperation in the business and cultural spheres.

    Prague City Hall in October terminated its sister-city agreement with Beijing after the Chinese capital refused to let Prague remove a clause saying it respected the policy of One China.
    Author: Ruth Fraňková

  • Czechs to spend more on Christmas this year
    12/12/2019

    Czechs are spending increasing amounts of money on Christmas, according to a survey carried out by the agency Nielsen Admosphere, presented on Thursday.

    The average amount Czechs will spend on Christmas shopping is CZK 12,297, which is CZK 1,310 more than last year.

    While in 2016, the average amount Czechs spent on Christmas gifts amounted to CZK 4,500, last year it exceeded CZK 6,000 and this year it reached CZK 7,046.
    Author: Ruth Fraňková

  • PM to defend nuclear energy at EU summit in Brussels
    12/12/2019

    Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš is attending an EU summit in Brussels on Thursday and Friday focused on plans to combat global warming. European heads of state are set to debate ways for the 28-nation bloc to become carbon neutral by 2050.

    Mr Babiš said ahead of the summit that the Czech Republic was also committed to carbon neutrality, but it won’t be able to reach it without nuclear energy and called on Brussels not to exclude nuclear energy from its sustainable finance classification scheme.

    He also pointed out the "astronomical costs" of a conversion to carbon neutrality, evaluating them at 26 billion euros. EU leaders will also discuss their long-term budget plans, economic developments and Britain’s departure from the European Union.
    Author: Ruth Fraňková

  • Czech population reaches 10.69 million in third quarter of 2019
    12/12/2019

    The population of the Czech Republic grew by more than 30,000 over the first nine months of this year to 10.69 million, the Czech Statistics Office announced on Thursday. As in recent years, the numbers were driven by immigration, mainly from Ukraine and Slovakia.

    More people were born than died during the first nine months of 2019, but both of the figures were lower than in the same period last year.

    The number of Prague citizens increased by 10.056 to 1.319 million.
    Author: Ruth Fraňková

  • 200 attend memorial for Ostrava hospital shooting victims
    12/11/2019

    Some 200 people gathered outside the University Hospital in Ostrava on Wednesday evening for a memorial service for six people killed there the previous morning by a gunman.

    Originally, the service was to be in the hospital chapel, but it could not accommodate those wishing to pay their respects to the victims. One woman remains in critical condition.

    Sirens across the Czech Republic will sound at noon on December 17 to commemorate the victims.

    The gunman, a 42-year-old construction technician with a history of mental illness and minor scrapes with the law, later committed suicide in his car as police closed in on him.
    Author: Brian Kenety

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