• Jarolím feeling “terrible” after Czechs’ biggest defeat ever
    06/02/2018

    Czech international football manager Karel Jarolím said he felt “terrible” after his team suffered a 4:0 drubbing by Australia at St. Pölten in Austria on Friday. It was the Czech Republic’s biggest defeat ever. Jarolím said he had believed that the Czechs were improving but the match had disabused him of that idea.

    The Czech Republic failed to reach the World Cup in Russia, which begins the week after next. Their campaign to try to qualify for the 2020 European Championships will get underway after the summer.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Kylián piece opens 30th Tanec Praha festival
    06/02/2018

    The 30th edition of the Tanec Praha festival of dance began on Friday night with a performance of East Shadow by the great Czech choreographer Jiří Kylián at Prague’s Ponec theatre. Mr. Kylián, who is 71, was recently made a member of the prestigious Académie francaise. He was involved in the inception of Tanec Praha in the late 1980s.

    Other highlights of this year’s edition of the festival include SUNNY by the Israeli choreographer Emanuel Gat and Dancing Grandmothers by the Korean choreographer Eun-Me Ahn.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Draft budget for 2019 projects 50 billion crown deficit
    06/01/2018

    In its first draft of the 2019 state budget the Finance Ministry envisages a deficit of 50 billion crowns, the ctk news agency reported Friday.

    The budgetary priorities are increased pensions, higher wages for teachers and higher investments. Deficits of roughly that amount are expected until the year 2021.

    All ministries have been promised more funds for next year, with the biggest increase being to the budget of the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs.

    Opposition parties have criticized the size of the deficit at a time of economic growth.
    Author: Daniela Lazarová

  • Weather forecast
    06/01/2018

    Saturday should be partly cloudy to overcast with rain in most parts of the country and day temperatures between 23 and 27 degrees Celsius.
    Author: Daniela Lazarová

  • Lower house approves government’s foreign missions plan
    06/01/2018

    The lower house of Parliament has approved the government’s foreign missions plan. Under the proposal the Czech Republic should reinforce its presence in Iraq, Afghanistan and Mali by 275 soldiers this year. In the second half of 2019 Czech pilots will take their turn protecting the airspace of the Baltic States.

    The plan was approved by 140 out of the 170 deputies present. Only the Communist Party and the Freedom and Direct Democracy Party voted against.

    The vote was preceded by a stormy debate since the Civic Democrats had strong reservations to the fact that the plan was being put forward by a government without a confidence vote.
    Author: Daniela Lazarová

  • Steelmaker Třinecké železárny makes bid for Arcelor Mittal Ostrava
    06/01/2018

    Steelmaker Třinecké železárny has made a bid to buy its main rival Arcelor Mittal Ostrava. The news was confirmed by the spokeswoman of Třinecké železárny Petra Jurásková.

    The idea of a merger between the country’s two biggest steelmakers has received strong support both from Prime Minister Andrej Babis and President Milos Zeman who said the companies should stay in Czech hands.

    The Czech government is closely following ArcelorMittal Ostrava’s sale with the main concern to ensure the continuity of steel making and allied activities employing more than 7,000 in a region of relatively high unemployment.

    It is not clear how many other bids have been made.
    Author: Daniela Lazarová

  • Roma festival Khamoro brings colourful parade to city centre
    06/01/2018

    The week-long festival of Romany culture Khamoro continued on Friday with a colorful parade through the city center with over 250 Romany musicians and dancers from different countries and regions taking part.

    The festival also offers a concert of traditional Roma music at La Fabrika with artists from Russia, Portugal and Romania, a football tournament and a gala concert at the Prague Club SaSaZu on Saturday.
    Author: Daniela Lazarová

  • Czech-German celebrations on Mánes Bridge
    06/01/2018

    Prague’s Mánes Bridge will be the site of weekend celebrations marking the 20th anniversary of the Czech-German Fund For the Future.

    Over that time the fund has supported more than 10,000 joint and cross-border projects that benefitted good-neighborly relations.

    The celebrations on Mánes Bridge will include concerts, outdoor theatre performances, debates, events for children and there will be stalls with Czech and German cuisine.

    Mánes Bridge will be closed to traffic as of Friday evening.
    Author: Daniela Lazarová

  • Revised figures put GDP growth in first quarter at 4.4 percent
    06/01/2018

    The Czech economy growth slowed to 4.4 percent year on year in the first quarter of this year, according to revised figures published on Friday. Provisional calculations had put the gross domestic product expansion in the January to April period at 4.5 percent. Growth in the last quarter of 2017 stood at 5.5 percent.

    The positive growth rate in the first three months of 2018 was due to accelerated investment expenditures supported by continued growth in domestic consumption, the Czech Statistics Office said.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Multi-party support for Drahoš Senate run
    06/01/2018

    The defeated candidate in the second round of presidential elections in January, Jiří Drahoš, is to stand for the Senate with the backing of several political parties, he announced on Friday. The chemist and former head of the Czech Academy of Sciences will have the support of TOP 09, the Christian Democrats, the Mayors and Independents and the Greens when he runs for a Senate post in the Prague 4 constituency in October.

    Mr. Drahoš received 48.5 percent of the vote in January’s elections, which were won by the incumbent Miloš Zeman.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

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