• Babiš says he will try and form minority government
    10/27/2017

    Andrej Babiš, the head of the ANO party which dominated in the general elections last weekend, has told news website iDnes he will try and form a minority government made up of ANO nominees together with politically-unaffiliated experts. He made the comment after failing to convince other parties in the lower house this week to come on board, namely the Civic Democrats, with whom ANO would have enough mandates to form a majority.

    As he was turned away, Mr Babiš said he would try and form a government which would put forward a program which would at least in part take into consideration priorities of parties not in the cabinet. He did not say from whom he could get support in a confidence vote.
    Author: Jan Velinger

  • Betting agencies rank Zeman as favourite to win presidential election
    10/27/2017

    Betting agencies have revised odds in the presidential election in January, once again favouring the incumbent, Miloš Zeman. During the summer, candidate Jiří Drahoš, the former head the Czech Academy of Sciences was favoured. The pendulum has swung back to Zeman, news site ČTK indicated.

    At the moment, Mr Zeman’s odds of winning are 1,40:1 while the odds for Mr Drahoš are 3:1. The next candidate closest presidential hopeful is Michal Horáček, with odds of around 8:1.
    Author: Jan Velinger

  • Singer Kubišová to perform at sold-out Lucerna in Prague
    10/27/2017

    Singer Marta Kubišová will perform at Prague’s Lucerna on Friday, one of the stops on her Goodbye tour. The singer who was persecuted by the communist authorities and banned from singing and became a symbol of the Velvet Revolution with her song Prayer for Marta, is performing live for the last time in the series of concerts.

    Her last stop in České Budějovice on November 1, will coincide with the singer’s 75 birthday.
    Author: Jan Velinger

  • Václav Černý out for Ajax after knee injury
    10/27/2017

    In football, the season appears to be over for Czech Ajax Amsterdam player Václav Černý. A medical inspection confirmed that he suffered a serious knee injury during a cup game on Wednesday and will now face an operation and several months’ recovery. The 20 year old midfielder and member of the Under 21 national squad is rated as one of the best Czech talents to have emerged in recent years.
    Author: Chris Johnstone

  • Placido Domingo to conduct Don Giovanni at Estates Theatre
    10/27/2017

    World famous singer Placido Domingo takes to Prague’s Estates Theatre to conduct Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Don Giovanni. It’s the same theatre where Mozart himself conducted the premier of his work in 1787 with Domingo’s rendition coming on the 230th anniversary of the original. A second performance conducted by Domingo will take place on Sunday in the square outside the National Theatre and will be televised by public broadcaster Czech Television. Domingo came up with the idea of the two performances during a private visit to the Czech capital.
    Author: Chris Johnstone

  • Czech Banking Association sees 2017 growth at 4.3 percent
    10/26/2017

    The Czech Banking Association has revised upwards its growth expectations for the country this year to 4.3 percent from the previous 3.2 percent in June. June’s prediction had also been upped from the association’s 2.6 percent forecast in April. The association also sees 2018 Czech growth at 3.2 percent compared with the previous 2.7 percent. Higher than expected domestic demand and a continued strong export performance are behind the revision.
    Author: Chris Johnstone

  • Weather
    10/26/2017

    The weather on Friday will be cloudy with rain and sunny intervals possible. Top daytime temperatures will range between 8 and 12 degrees Celsius.
    Author: Chris Johnstone

  • Common Sense Party candidate says has support for presidential run
    10/26/2017

    Czech musician and politician Petr Hannig says he has collected the 20 signatures from members of parliament needed to be a candidate for presidential elections. Hannig told the Czech News Agency that he submitted the names to the Ministry of Interior on Wednesday. He said backing came from across the political spectrum and he would be seeking more names by the November 7 deadline for candidacies to be submitted, Hannig is the leader of the Common Sense Party which he founded in 2002, The Czech presidential elections will be held in January.
    Author: Chris Johnstone

  • Karolína Plíšková loses first match in WTA Finals
    10/26/2017

    In tennis, Czech player Karolína Plíšková has suffered her first defeat in the end of season WTA Finals tournament being staged in Singapore. The top Czech women’s singles player was defeated by Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko 3:6, 1:6. After winning her first two matches in the opening group, Plíšková had already secured her place in the next round.
    Author: Chris Johnstone

  • Family of Czech singer turn down honour from head of state
    10/26/2017

    The son of deceased Czech singer Věra Špinarová has refused the national honour that head of state Miloš Zeman wanted to award her on Saturday’s national day, the Czech News Agency reported. Son Adam Pavlík said he was convinced his mother would not have accepted the award and would not have regarded it as important. He added that his mother did not like president Zeman and did not regard him as representative of the nation as a whole. President Zeman indicated during a recent tour of Moravia that Špinarová, who died in March at the age of 65, was on the list of those to be awarded at a ceremony on Saturday.
    Author: Chris Johnstone

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