• Czech music festival gets underway in Romania’s Banát
    08/15/2018

    Around 1,300 people left on a special train from Prague to Romania on Tuesday evening to take part in the annual music festival in Banát in the south-west of the country, which gets underway on Wednesday evening.

    The festival was established to raise money in support of the local Czech community. Over 30 Czech bands and musicians are set to perform in the seventh edition of the event, which takes place in the village of Eibenthal.

    The Czech community settled in Banát in the 1920s. Today there are around 2,000 Czechs living in the rural area.
    Author: Ruth Fraňková

  • Kvitová, Plíšková through in Cincinnati
    08/15/2018

    In tennis, Petra Kvitová has advanced to the third round of Cincinnati Open after beating Serena Williams 6:3, 2:6 a 6:3. It is the second time that the 28-year-old has beaten the U.S. player in her career. She is set to face Kristina Mladenovic of France in the next round.

    Another Czech, Karolína Plíšková has scored her first win over Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland, knocking her out 6:3, 6:3 to advance to the second round.
    Author: Ruth Fraňková

  • MP apologises to Chinese after collapse of unofficial trip
    08/15/2018

    MP Jan Birke of the Social Democrats has apologised to representatives of the Chinese embassy in Prague after the cancellation of an unofficial visit by Czech deputies to China. The group of politicians had been due to visit the country at the invitation of Beijing at the end of August before a number announced they were dropping out.

    In the end only three were still willing to go, which Mr. Birke described as nonsensical and undignified. He said, however, that a similar visit would take place before the end of the year.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Slavia fail to reach Champions League group stage after Kyiv defeat
    08/15/2018

    Slavia Prague have failed to reach the group stage of football’s Champions League after losing to Dynamo Kyiv on Tuesday evening. The Czech side were beaten 2:0 on the night following a 1:1 draw in Prague last week for a 3:1 aggregate defeat.

    The result in Ukraine was Slavia’s first defeat of the season. The last time they reached the group stage of the Champions League, Europe’s top international club competition, was 2007.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Czech truck driver survives Genoa bridge collapse
    08/14/2018

    A Czech truck driver survived a disaster in Italy’s Genoa on Tuesday when a long section of the city’s Morandi motorway bridge collapsed, Czech Television reported.

    The man, who works for the Prague-based haulage company SPED-IT, was communicating with doctors, a representative of the firm said on Tuesday afternoon. More details regarding how the driver survived or his state of health have not been released.

    At least 30 people were killed when the bridge collapsed, with some vehicles falling up to 90 metres to the ground below.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Fire warnings called off after rains
    08/14/2018

    Meteorologists have called off fire warnings imposed on most of the Czech Republic for a period of several weeks, Czech Television reported. The move followed heavy rainfall in recent days.

    A fire alert is still in place in southern Moravia and forecasters say they fear the situation may again take a turn for the worse around the country in the coming days.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Babiš to offer Italy unmanned aircraft to help fight illegal migration
    08/14/2018

    The Czech prime minister, Andrej Babiš, says he will offer Italy and Malta unmanned aircraft to help guard their borders and combat illegal migration when he visits the two states in a fortnight’s time. Mr. Babiš made the comment on Tuesday after visiting a Czech company that develops such aircraft.

    The Czech leader agreed a month ago to visit Rome after his Italian counterpart, Giuseppe Conte, sent an open letter in response to Mr. Babiš’s refusal of an Italian request to take in 450 migrants.

    The latter says Europe must send a signal that illegal migration is unacceptable and taking in more people only makes the problem worse.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Weather forecast
    08/14/2018

    Wednesday should be mainly bright in the Czech Republic, with temperatures of up to 26 degrees Celsius expected. Daytime highs are expected to reach the high 20s or higher in the coming week.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Three-quarters of toys examined fail to meet rules
    08/14/2018

    Three-quarters of toys examined by the Czech Trade Inspection Authority in the first quarter of this year did not meet all the set regulations, the government agency said on Tuesday. The most common shortcomings were failure to identify the manufacturer or importer, while some packaging only contained information in English.

    Inspectors imposed fines totalling CZK 1.8 million crowns on almost 300 toy sellers and distributors in the first three months of 2018.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Economic growth decelerates in second quarter
    08/14/2018

    Czech economic growth slowed to 2.3 percent in the second quarter of this year from 4.2 percent in the first quarter, according to an official preliminary gross domestic product estimate issued on Tuesday. Analysts had expected slightly faster expansion in the April to August period.

    Czech GDP growth for the whole of 2018 should reach around 3 percent, according to experts. They say that the economy is currently performing at close to its maximum potential.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

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