• 09/11/2017

    The country’s right-wing opposition, TOP 09 and the Civic Democrats, have criticized the proposed state budget for 2018 with a planned deficit of 50 billion crowns.

    In a press released, TOP 09 leader Miroslav Kalousek called the current government “ineffective” while Civic Democrat MP Jan Skopeček called the planned deficit “evidence of the inability” of the government to “tap economic growth for the further stabilization of public finances”.

    As was expected, the government postponed discussion of the planned budget on Monday morning and will return to the matter in two weeks.

    Author: Jan Velinger
  • 09/11/2017

    Tuesday will be cloudy with a chance of rain. Daytime temperatures should reach highs of around 16 degrees Celsius.

    Author: Jan Velinger
  • 09/11/2017

    The number of inhabitants in the Czech Republic rose by 9,200 in the first half of the year to now stand at a total population of 10,588,063, according to the Czech Statistical Office. One of the main factors in the increase has been immigration, primarily from Ukraine and Slovakia.

    New Ukrainian immigrants numbered 2,600, Slovaks 2,100, and Vietnamese 700.

    Author: Jan Velinger
  • 09/11/2017

    Football goalkeeper Petr Čech has drawn differences between his current club Arsenal and former club Chelsea under manager Jose Mourinho, suggesting his former manager had a different philosophy when it came to winning.

    Čech told the French football website So Foot that Mourinho had wanted to always win at all costs and was not accepting of draws. He said that the approach by Arsene Wenger was not about victory at all costs but that the club wanted to win in “a certain way”. But he also said the situation was changing. Čech posted his first clean sheet of the season against Bournemouth at the weekend. The score was 3:0.

    Arsenal had lost the previous two matches, including 4:0 against Liverpool.

    Author: Jan Velinger
  • 09/11/2017

    The Czech Foreign Ministry has said that no Czechs are among victims of Hurricane Irma which hit Florida and the Caribbean. The ministry was responding to a query by the Czech News Agency; spokeswoman Irena Valentová said neither the embassy nor any consulates in the US or Cuba had registered any Czech nationals being in danger.

    The Foreign Ministry has strongly recommended that Czechs not travel to stricken areas. According to the ministry, there are around 1,000 Czech nationals in the state of Florida – members of the expat community as well as tourists.

    US President Donald J. Trump has declared a state of emergency in the state. Following landfall by the hurricane, millions of people were evacuated from their homes to safer areas; three people were reported killed in the hurricane.

    Author: Jan Velinger
  • 09/11/2017

    Twenty-six people were evacuated from their homes in an apartment building in Prague 10 on Sunday night. Police, including pyrotechnics and other specialists were called by the family of a military items collector, worried about a device in his home being a possible landmine. On closer inspection, the item was revealed to be an alternator, but investigators found large amount of munitions and a radioactive item. Two other sites, in or near the town of Roztoky, were also searched. Police have not released additional details about the radioactive find.

    Author: Jan Velinger
  • 09/11/2017

    Plans to revamp Prague’s Wenceslas Square have been given final approval after 12 long years of debate, the news site idnes reported on Monday.

    The project, by award winning Prague architect Jakub Cigler, envisages a traffic-free zone with more greenery, more space for pedestrians, a wider promenade and more outdoor seating arrangements.

    The trams currently cutting through the square will be rerouted and car traffic will be severely restricted.

    Work on the square is expected to start next year.

  • 09/11/2017

    The parties of the ruling coalition have agreed on a 15 percent wage hike for teachers and a 10 percent wage hike for other public sector employees as of November 1. Agreement on the salary increase was reached after Finance Minister Ivan Pilny raised the projected revenues for 2018 by 21 billion crowns. This was made possible due to an upgrade of the country’s growth estimate from 2.9 to 3.1 percent. Even so, ministers will have to find an additional 8 billion crowns to deliver on their promise. The coalition parties on Monday did not reach a consensus on whether universities will receive the additional 4.5 billion they asked for.

  • 09/10/2017

    Trade unions from around the country are to gather in Prague next Thursday for consultations ahead of the annual negotiations on wage hikes.

    The trade union leadership should make a recommendation regarding the demands to be made.

    Trade unions in the public sector are already on strike alert demanding that the government deliver on its promise to raise teachers’ wages by 15 percent as of November and by 10 percent for other public sector employees.

    Thursday’s gathering will be attended by trade union representatives from Germany, Austria and Slovakia.

  • 09/10/2017

    Finance Minister Ivan Pilný from the ANO party has increased the revenues chapter in the 2018 draft budget by 21 billion crowns.

    The minister confirmed this in a debate on Czech Television on Sunday, saying the ministry had upgraded its growth estimate for 2018 from 2.9 to 3.1 percent.

    However the additional finances would still not cover the proposed wage hike for public sector employees. According to Pilny the budget would still be short of approximately 8 billion crowns.

    The finance minister dismissed the prime minister’s proposal that this money could come from finances saved by individual ministries as unrealistic, saying ministry officials had made it clear they would spend their entire budgets.

    The coalition parties are to meet on Monday to debate the proposed wage hikes.

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