• 11/08/2024

    Viktoria Plzeň secured a 2-1 victory over Spain’s Real Sociedad in a Europa League match on Thursday evening with a last-minute goal, earning their first win after three consecutive draws. The West Bohemian club moved up four spots to 16th in the standings.

    Meanwhile, Slavia Prague faced another setback, losing 1-0 to Eintracht Frankfurt in Germany, mirroring their defeat two weeks ago in Bilbao. The loss dropped the Czech-league leaders to 23rd place in the Europa table.

    Author: Ruth Fraňková
  • 11/08/2024

    The government estimates total damage from the September floods at CZK 45 to 50 billion, with more than half affecting state property, Finance Minister Zbyněk Stanjura announced on Friday.

    In response, the government has raised this year’s budget deficit by CZK 30 billion and next year’s planned deficit by CZK 10 billion. Stanjura stated that the adjustments are considered reasonable given the circumstances.

    The government has until December 5 to submit the total damage assessment to the European Commission, enabling Czechia to access funds for reconstruction from the European Solidarity Fund. It is already clear that damages will surpass the CZK 40 million threshold needed for European Solidarity Fund assistance.

    Author: Ruth Fraňková
  • 11/08/2024

    Czech tennis player Barbora Krejčíková has advanced to the semi-finals at of the WTA Finals in Riyadh after defeating Coco Gauff 7-5, 6-4. The Czech Wimbledon champion secured her place as the Orange Group winner at the expense of World No 2 Iga Swiatek, who need her to lose in order to progress from the group stage. The Czech will face China's top-ranked player Zheng Qinwen in the semifinals.

    Author: Ruth Fraňková
  • 11/08/2024

    Unemployment in Czechia fell to 3.8 percent in October, compared to 3.9 percent in September, according to data released by the Czech Labour Office on Friday.

    There were roughly 289, 000 unemployed people at the end of October, some 1,900 fewer than in the previous month. Vacancies, on the other hand, increased by over 1,300 to nearly 266,000.

    The highest unemployment rate last month was in the Ústí nad Labem Region, at 6.1 percent, while the lowest unemployment rate was recorded in the Prague region, where it stood at 2.8 percent.  Analysts put the drop in unemployment down to seasonal reasons.

    Author: Ruth Fraňková
  • 11/08/2024

    The Czech Chamber of Deputies is expected to finalise the approval of a controversial pension reform, which, according to the government, will contribute to the sustainability and the reduction of the pension system's deficit. The opposition parties ANO and Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD) are opposed to raising the retirement age further and to a gradual reduction in the calculation of new pensions.

    Deputies will meet today for the fourth time for the final approval of the pension amendment. They have so far spent twelve and a half hours in previous rounds of discussion, and have submitted thirty amendments to the reform proposals. These include setting the age limit for entitlement to a retirement pension at 67, and slowing the increase in the retirement age to one month per year. Voting on the form of the draft is to begin at noon.

    Author: Danny Bate
  • 11/07/2024

    Tomorrow's weather will be overcast with low clouds, initially foggy, then clear to partly clear in places. In the afternoon and evening, the low clouds will mostly dissolve. The highest temperatures will be between 8 and 12 °C.

    Author: Danny Bate
  • 11/07/2024

    The re-election of Donald Trump as American president will strengthen the position of the European Parliament faction Patriots for Europe, to which the Czech ANO party belongs, according to ANO vice-chairman Karel Havlíček. Speaking to journalists at the Chamber of Deputies today, Mr. Havlíček predicted that bilateral relations between Czechia and the USA at the level of national leadership will weaken, and the Czech government will have neutral relations with the new administration.

    At the same time, he expects that American relations with the multinational Patriots for Europe group within the European Parliament will improve, since the Patriots are the main partner of the American Republican Party within the EU, sharing views on migration, climate, energy policy and security.

    Author: Danny Bate
  • 11/07/2024

    The Ostrava-based company Vítkovice Steel has reported a profit of 330.8 million crowns for the year 2023, its best economic result in over fifteen years, said their spokeswoman Jana Dronská today. The steelworks, which are an iconic business in the Silesian city, made a profit after many years of losses, with its loss in 2022 amounting to 550 million crowns.

    The Czech steel industry is still facing serious problems, but the acquisition of a new financial partner and an increase in production helped the company to achieve the positive result. Vítkovice Steel is a traditional European manufacturer of rolled steel products, which has over 800 employees and exports to over fifty countries.

    Author: Danny Bate
  • 11/07/2024

    Urenco, a British uranium-enrichment company with plants in Germany, the Netherlands, the USA and the UK, will continue to supply uranium to Czech nuclear power plants, as the Czech semi-state energy group ČEZ has agreed on cooperation with Urenco until at least the mid-2030s, ČEZ said today.

    Enriched uranium is a key fuel for nuclear power plants, one which Czechia also receives from the French company Orano. According to ČEZ, extending its cooperation with Urenco will give the company security by obtaining uranium from multiple sources, increasing the safety of nuclear power plant operations in case one of their suppliers runs into problems with uranium delivery.

    Author: Danny Bate
  • 11/07/2024

    The second of the two young men from Czechia who were injured on October 29th while riding on the roof of a Vienna metro train has now died. The death of the 18-year-old was confirmed today by the Vienna General Hospital, following the death of a boy a year younger last Saturday. The two teenagers, the older a Czech citizen and the younger a Ukrainian citizen with permanent residence in Czechia, were taking part in the online trend of 'metro-surfing' when they were killed close to Schönbrunn station. The public-transport operator Wiener Linien has expressed condolences and urged the general public not to take such risks for the sake of social-media content.

    Author: Danny Bate

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