• 01/10/2024

    The Czech prime minister, Petr Fiala, and his Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi, discussed strengthening Czech-Indian cooperation at a meeting in the Indian city of Gandhinagar on Wednesday. Mr. Fiala said his host had, for instance, expressed interest in the development of small modular nuclear reactors.

    The two leaders also agreed on a strategic partnership on innovation in such fields as medicine, AI and cybernetics, Mr. Fiala told reporters.

    At an economic forum in Gujarat the Czech leader said his country was looking for reliable democratic partners in the wake of the war in Ukraine and that India had a key role to play in this regard.

    Author: Ian Willoughby
  • 01/10/2024

    Memorial organisations at Lidice and Ležáky, two Czech villages destroyed by the Nazis in World War II, are cancelling some events this year due to a lack of money, the Czech News Agency reported. The head of the Lidice Memorial, Eduard Stehlík, said that two concerts planned for 2024 had been cancelled while an exhibition may also have to be called off.

    An annual event involving children’s choirs named Light for Lidice will now be held only once every five years. A concert of thanksgiving at Ležáky has been cancelled after the first year and will take place only on round anniversaries in future.

    Author: Ian Willoughby
  • 01/10/2024

    The lower house should discuss the introduction of postal voting for Czechs living abroad at a special session next Wednesday. The debate has been called by the chair of the Chamber of Deputies, Markéta Pekarová Adamová of government party TOP09.

    The opposition parties ANO and Freedom and Direct Democracy are against the bill, which they say would be a threat to democracy. They are expected to continue a previous tactic of filibustering in debates on postal voting. Observers say such a change could impact their support.

    Most European Union countries allow postal voting.

    Author: Ian Willoughby
  • 01/10/2024

    The minister of culture, Martin Baxa, says he agrees with trade unions that wages in the arts sector should be higher, but Czechia’s economic situation means that expectations in that regard cannot be met this year. He made the comments before a cabinet meeting on Wednesday.

    Unions accuse the government and the minister of failing to address problems in the culture sector, saying a promise of salary increases in 2023 was not met. They say the government pledged to bring spending on culture closer to one percent of the state budget but in fact underfunding is getting worse.

    Author: Ian Willoughby
  • 01/10/2024

    It should be mainly overcast in Czechia on Thursday, with an average high temperature of 1 degree Celsius. Similar weather is expected on the following days.

    Author: Ian Willoughby
  • 01/10/2024

    Jiří Kobza, an MP for the Freedom and Direct Democracy Party, who suggested in a post on social networks that the Faculty of Arts had only itself to blame for the tragic shooting on its premises because it has “molded the student responsible for the attack” has publicly apologized for the comment. He published the apology shortly after the rector of Charles University, Milena Kralíčkova, announced that the faculty would sue him for slander.

    Just hours after the tragedy, Kobza wrote on social networks that the Faculty of Arts should take the blame for having helped mold the shooter by the “inclusive progressive education”  it provided, which he said "begged the question what kind of indoctrination program of hate was being taught there".

    In a joint statement the rectors of Czech universities said they consider the post to be “absolutely shocking, crossing the boundaries of decency, morality and good taste."

    In his apology Kobza said he had been in a highly emotional state when he posted the comment.

  • 01/10/2024

    The Christian Democratic Party leadership has endorsed Marian Jurečka in a secret ballot as party chair and labour minister, taking into account his performance in office. The labour minister, who is under fire for holding a Christmas party at the ministry on the night of the tragic shooting at the Prague Faculty of Arts, received backing from 25 out of 30 party representatives. Prime Minister Petr Fiala on Tuesday also threw his weight behind Mr. Jurečka, saying he had made an error in judgment, apologized for it and with that he considered the matter closed.

  • 01/09/2024

    An internal check into the police response to the shooting at the Prague Faculty of Arts concluded that the police intervention was “fast, professional and fully in line with internal regulations”, the head of the internal investigations unit Michal Tikovský said at a press briefing in Prague. He said the professional response to the crisis had saved lives and confirmed that it had not been possible to gun down the attacker from his position on the roof of the building. However he said crisis communication could have been better, pointing out that the faculty and university management was not informed immediately about the danger.

  • 01/09/2024

    Wednesday should be bright and clear with early morning temperatures as low as – 11 degrees Celsius and daytime highs between 0 and -4 degrees Celsius.

  • 01/09/2024

    Czech banks have started cutting interest rates on savings accounts in reaction to the Czech National Bank's decision to cut the base rate by a quarter of a percentage point to 6.75 per cent in December, Czech Television reported. Interest rates are currently between 2.0 and 6.25 per cent. But from the end of January they will fall on most savings accounts, the repoirt said. For example, Česká Spořitelna, the bank with the largest number of clients, will reduce the base rate from 4.0 to 3.5 percent.

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