• 07/20/2023

    Ministers from Czechia and Poland are due to meet in the Polish city of Katowice on Thursday for the eighth intergovernmental consultation between the two sides.

    Talks are expected to centre on Ukraine, cooperation in the fields of energy and transport infrastructure and the current agenda of the European Union. Representing Czechia will be Prime Minister Petr Fiala and nine other cabinet members.

    Members of the two governments last held a joint meeting in Prague in June of last year.

    Author: Ian Willoughby
  • 07/20/2023

    The Czech-born writer Milan Kundera was cremated in Paris on Wednesday, just over a week after his death at the age of 94, the Czech News Agency reported, citing the Czech ambassador to France.

    Kundera’s widow, Věra Kunderová, plans to keep his ashes at her Paris apartment until her own death; they will then be transferred to the world-renowned author’s native city Brno, where he said he wished to be buried.

    Author: Ian Willoughby
  • 07/19/2023

    Czech top flight football clubs are readying for the start of a new season this weekend. While Sparta Prague are the defending champions going into 2023–2024, the bookies’ favourites to lift the title are Slavia Prague, the Czech News Agency said on Wednesday; Slavia have come second in the last two seasons.

    Four of the 16 clubs in the top division have new managers, including one of the favourites, Viktoria Plzeň; the West Bohemians are led by Miroslav Koubek, who last coached them eight years ago.

    Author: Ian Willoughby
  • 07/19/2023

    The Czech lower house ratified a defence cooperation agreement with the US on Wednesday. The document had already been signed by the Czech and American ministers of defence. The minister of defence, Jana Černochová, told MPs that the agreement represented a security guarantee for Czechia. The bill ratifying the deal must now be signed by President Petr Pavel.

    Earlier discussion of a government pension reform bill was interrupted until Friday. Deputies from the opposition ANO and Freedom and Direct Democracy parties spoke for three and a half hours at the start of the session, which is considering tightening the rules on early retirement and slowing the indexation of state old-age pensions.

    Author: Ian Willoughby
  • 07/19/2023

    Speaking in Prague, the head of the UK’s MI6 intelligence service, Richard Moore, said Ukraine had liberated more territory in a month than Russia had taken in a year. The spy chief made the comment in a talk before an invited audience at the British Embassy in Prague on Wednesday. He said he had chosen the Czech capital to make a rare public address as the city was a fitting place to discuss Ukraine, adding that Czechia was a close ally of the UK.

    Mr. Moore said many Russians were quietly horrified that their country’s armedforces were demolishing Ukrainian cities, driving innocent families from their homes and kidnapping thousands of children.

    The UK spy chief also said his agency was now putting most resources into China, reflecting the country’s growing global reach.

    Author: Ian Willoughby
  • 07/19/2023

    Czech police have arrested a man who made a bomb threat in an email sent to the Office of the President. Prague police said on Wednesday that the email, which arrived on Monday night, claimed explosives had been installed at Prague Castle that could be set off remotely.

    President Petr Pavel told journalists on Wednesday that it had been the action of a frustrated individual. The police’s extremism and terrorism unit is investigating the matter and the suspect could face up to three years in jail for spreading false alarm.

    Author: Ian Willoughby
  • 07/19/2023

    Škoda Auto is threatening to move production of the Enyaq electric car from its plant in Czechia’s Mladá Boleslav to a Volkswagen plant in Zwikov, Germany, Jaroslav Povšík, a union leader at the carmaker, told the daily E15 on Wednesday.

    Mr. Povšík said a final decision had not been made yet and that things should be clear in the autumn, when negotiations on the matter will be concluded.

    For its part, Škoda Auto told E15 there were no plans to move the production of Enyaq cars.

    Author: Ian Willoughby
  • 07/19/2023

    Prague Castle’s collection of textiles contains many rare items and is the most important in the country, say representatives of the Institute of Archaeology at the Czech Academy of Sciences. The institute has been carrying out research into the collection for 30 years and even set up a restoration workshop at the Castle itself, the Czech News Agency reported on Wednesday.

    Among valuable preserved items of clothing from the 10th to 18th century are the country’s oldest known liturgical vestments and unique Chinese and other Asian fabrics.

    Author: Ian Willoughby
  • 07/19/2023

    It should be mainly overcast in Czechia on Thursday, with an average high temperature of 24 degrees Celsius. Clear skies are expected at the weekend.

    Author: Ian Willoughby
  • 07/18/2023

    Fresh Czech Wimbledon women’s singles champion Markéta Vondroušová says she is pleased to have made the top 10 in the world rankings. Speaking in a news conference on Tuesday after her return to Prague from London, the player said she was looking forward to a week of rest.

    Vondroušová’s next tennis tournament will be in Montreal at the start of next month.

    The 24-year-old was the first unseeded female player to win Wimbledon, for what was her maiden Grand Slam title.

    Author: Ian Willoughby

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