• 05/15/2024

    Czechia beat Denmark 7:4 in a group game at the Ice Hockey World Championships in Prague on Wednesday. The three points earned in the victory are an important step on the hosts’ route to the knockout stages of the tournament, which is being held in the Czech capital and Ostrava. It was the first time the Czechs had beaten the Danes in regular time in a major event for 12 years.

    The Czech Republic’s next Group A game is against Austria on Friday.

    Author: Ian Willoughby
  • 05/15/2024

    Czech politicians have been responding to the news of the shooting of Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico in the Slovak town of Handlová on Wednesday afternoon. Czech PM Petr Fiala said that the news had been shocking and that he wished Mr. Fico a speedy recovery. Mr. Fiala said violence could not be tolerated and had no place in society.

    President Petr Pavel said the attack was reprehensible, whatever the motivation. He said it should be a warning about how far the deepening of hostility and aggression in society can lead.

    The Czech foreign minister, Jan Lipavský, said he absolutely condemned violence in politics and also wished the Slovak leader a quick recovery.

    Czech opposition leader Andrej Babiš, who is from Slovakia, said the news from the country was terrible and that he was praying for Mr. Fico.

    Mr. Fico was reported to be conscious after the shooting, in which he was reportedly hit three or four times.

    Author: Ian Willoughby
  • 05/15/2024

    Czech President Petr Pavel says supporting Ukraine militarily does not mean ruling out searching for a solution to the conflict. He said, however, that any potential peace settlement would necessarily presuppose Ukraine’s consent. This was one reason he had accepted an invitation to a peace conference in June hosted by Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelensky.

    Mr. Pavel made these comments a day after an interview he gave to television station Sky News in the UK led to speculation among Czech politicians regarding his position on the matter.

    In a statement on Wednesday, Mr. Pavel said Russia alone had the power to immediately end the conflict but had no interest in doing so.

    Author: Ian Willoughby
  • 05/15/2024

    Czech Post says it has abandoned plans to sell its iconic main post office on Prague’s Jindřišská St. after it received no bids for the second time. The mail service said it had taken the property, valued at CZK 1.54 billion, off the market and was now considering what to do with it. One possibility is to shut other branches and move the staff to Jindřišská, a spokesperson said on Wednesday.

    The building, which dates from the 1870s, was declared a national cultural landmark in 1998.

    Czech Post last year announced it was closing around 300 branches and making redundancies, after suffering heavy losses.

    Author: Ian Willoughby
  • 05/15/2024

    The escalators at the Prague Metro station Jiřího z Poděbrad are to remain free of advertising, the city’s deputy mayor for transport, Zdeněk Hřib, said on Wednesday.

    When the station was reopened last year after extensive renovations some commuters praised the fact that the escalators had been left free of ads, unlike in many stations in the underground network.

    Author: Ian Willoughby
  • 05/15/2024

    It should be mainly overcast in Czechia on Thursday, with an average high temperature of 19 degrees Celsius. More cloudy skies are expected on the following days.

    Author: Ian Willoughby
  • 05/15/2024

    The Czech minister of foreign affairs, Jan Lipavský, says Georgia’s adoption of a Russian-style law on so-called foreign agents will damage civil society in the country and therefore impact its democracy and the rule of law.

    The Czech foreign policy chief said on social media on Wednesday that Georgia had begun to move away from EU membership thanks to this legislation and comments by ruling party officials.

    Mr. Lipavský said Czechia condemned the Tbilisi government’s use of violence against demonstrators in recent weeks.

    Author: Ian Willoughby
  • 05/15/2024

    The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has downgraded its outlook for the Czech economy this year. The EBRD said on Wednesday that it now expected Czechia’s gross domestic product to expand by only 0.1 percent in 2023, down from the 2.5 percent it predicted last September.

    The institution said the Czech economy should benefit from a slight recovery in consumption and investment this year, though demand will be sluggish.

    The EBRD said Czech GDP should grow by 2.5 percent in 2025.

    Author: Ian Willoughby
  • 05/15/2024

    Czech Television and Czech Radio are set to get more funding from next year, under a proposal put forward on Wednesday by the Ministry of Culture. The license fee for both public service broadcasters is set to rise, meaning Czech Television will have CZK 865 million more in its annual budget, while Czech Radio will receive an additional CZK 331 million.

    The last time the license fee for Czech Television increased was in 2008. In the case of Czech Radio there has been no change since 2005.

    Under the new bill all owners of a mobile phone, tablet or computer will now have to pay the fee.

    Author: Ian Willoughby
  • 05/14/2024

    The Czech prime minister, Petr Fiala, says the EU’s new migration and asylum pact, which was officially endorsed by member states on Tuesday, is a first step toward tackling illegal migration but does not go far enough. Mr. Fiala said Czechia had thus helped found a group of countries pushing for a more vigorous response to the issue.

    In a statement on Tuesday, he said that the group’s aim was to move the solution to migration beyond the EU’s borders by combating smuggling, creating return centres and entering into strategic partnerships with the countries from which migrants come to Europe. He added that he had discussed this with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in Rome on Monday.

    Author: Ian Willoughby

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