• 09/19/2024

    Sparta Prague marked their return to the Champions League with a 3-0 win over Salzburg on Wednesday in their first game in Europe's top club competition in 19 years. The hosts opened the scoring just two minutes into the match with a goal from Kaan Kairinen, with further strikes added by Victor Olantuji and Qazim Laci in the 42nd and 28th minutes.

    Author: Ruth Fraňková
  • 09/18/2024

    The semi state-owned power utility CEZ will establish strategic partnership with Rolls-Royce for the development of small modular reactors (SMRs), Prime Minister Petr Fiala told journalists on Wednesday, adding that the cooperation opens up the possibility for Czech companies to participate in the development of this type of nuclear sources and to join the global supply chain.

    According to the Prime Minister, Czechia is not interested in buying ready-made small modular reactors, but wants to participate in their production on a global scale. Strategic partnership between CEZ and Rolls-Royce will make this possible, he said.

    The first modular reactor in Czechia could be built at the site of nuclear power plant Temelin, southern Bohemia, in the first half of the 2030s.

    Author: Ruth Fraňková
  • 09/18/2024

    The government has approved a new method of calculating the minimum wage. Under the new system, the lowest earnings will gradually rise from the current 41 percent of the average wage to 47 percent in 2029, the Labour Ministry announced on Wednesday. In January 2024, the minimum wage will increase to CZK 20,800, which will represent 42.2 percent of the average wage.

    The government has also approved the increase of old age pensions, which should reach an average of CZK 21,060 in January.

    Author: Ruth Fraňková
  • 09/18/2024

    Slovenia has provided the Czech Republic with ten large and 250 small dehumidifiers, the Foreign Ministry announced on the X network on Wednesday. According to the ministry, 10 large and 250 small dehumidifiers are heading to the country to help in the floo-affected regions. Czechia has already begun distributing 8,000 units from its own reserves.

    Last summer, Czechia provided three temporary bridges and 30 engineers and soldiers to help Slovenia cope with the most devastating floods in the country’s modern history.

    Author: Ruth Fraňková
  • 09/18/2024

    Thursday will be mostly sunny with occasional clouds and day temperatures ranging between 19 and 23 degrees Celsius.

    Author: Ruth Fraňková
  • 09/18/2024

    The police on Wednesday confirmed a fourth victim of the floods. The 70-year-old woman from the village of Kobylá nad Vidnavkou in the Jesenice region was evacuated from her house on Saturday by volunteer firefighters, but left the evacuation centre on Sunday morning to return home. The police discovered her body only 20 metres behind her house that was swept away by the river.

    Police are still searching for six other people, including the three missing people whose car fell into a turbulent Staříč river in the Jesenice region on Saturday. The empty car was found on Monday after the water in the river receded.

    Author: Ruth Fraňková
  • 09/18/2024

    All allegations of Czechia’s involvement in the plan to overthrow the government of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro lack any real basis, Daniel Drake, a spokesman for the Foreign Ministry, said on Wednesday.

    The Latin American country detained three US citizens, two Spaniards and one Czech last week over an alleged plot to destabilise the political situation in the country and kill some of its leaders, including Maduro.

    The Czech Embassy in Bogotá, Colombia, which is also covers Venezuela, sent a note to the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry asking for detailed information about the case.

    The news of the foreigners' detention comes amid surge in tensions between Caracas and Western countries over disputed Venezuelan election results.

    Author: Ruth Fraňková
  • 09/18/2024

    More than a third of Czechs don’t know how the country's pension system works and only six percent understand the changes brought about by the pension reform, suggests a survey by the Ipsos agency, presented on Wednesday.

    According to the survey, carried out among 1,000 respondents, almost three quarters of the population feel that the state doesn’t provide enough information about it. More than eight out of ten respondents said they were familiar with the functioning of the Czech pension system. However, only 65 percent answered the survey's test question correctly.

    The pension reform is set to be debated in the Senate and then signed by the President. According to the survey, two thirds of Czechs are currently saving or investing for their retirement.

    Author: Ruth Fraňková
  • 09/18/2024

    The European Commission has received Czechia’s request for assistance after the floods through the EU's civil protection system, the European Commissioner for Emergencies, Janez Lenarčič, confirmed in a debate with MEPs on Wednesday. He also said Slovenia had already offered to help.

    An emergency debate at a plenary session in Strasbourg was held on Wednesday on the possibilities of assistance in the wake of the devastating floods that hit central European countries.

    According to Deputy Prime Minister Vít Rakušan, Czechia has requested 15,000 dehumidifiers through the European civil assistance system. Meanwhile, it has already begun distributing 8,000 units from its own reserves to flood-affected regions.

    Author: Ruth Fraňková
  • 09/18/2024

    It will take months or even years to rebuild the areas affected by the devastating floods, President Petr Pavel told Czech Television on Wednesday after a visit to the Moravian-Silesian region. The Czech head of state said the government should assist the mayors, both financially and in securing the elections that will take place this coming weekend.

    The Czech head of state paid an announced visit to the town of Bohumín, one of the places hardest hit by the flooding. Parts of the town, which borders with Poland, were completely submerged by the river Odra during the weekend, forcing dozens to evacuate. Much of Bohumín has since been left without electricity and many also have no access to drinking water.

    Prime Minister Petr Fiala and other government members visited the Moravian-Silesian region on Tuesday.

    Author: Ruth Fraňková

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