News

The Czech Republic’s foreign debt increased by 10 billion crowns to 2.77 billion in the third quarter of this year, accounting for 65.5 percent of gross domestic product, the Czech National Bank said on Tuesday. Year on year, the foreign debt was 293 billion higher. The private sector is responsible for 67.7 percent of the long-term external debt, while public liabilities account for the remaining third. Foreign liabilities of the government sector accounted for 21.6 percent of the total external debt.

According to meteorologists, 2014 will go down as one of the warmest on Czech soil. Ten out of twelve months this year saw higher than average temperatures – a situation repeated just twice in nine years - the spokesman for the Czech Hydro meteorological Institute Petr Dvořák said. The average temperature has gone up by a roughly two degrees Celsius since 1850 at the country’s oldest meteorological station.

A charity concert in honour of Czechoslovakia’s first post-communist president, Václav Havel, is being held on Monday night at Prague’s Lucerna Palace. The former dissident and playwright, who died in 2011, was elected president for the first time on this day 25 years ago. Bands performing on Monday include Cuban punk anti-communists Porno para Ricardo, whose frontman was repeatedly jailed by the Castro regime. Russian folk band Arkadiy Kots, supporters of Pussy Riot when its members were jailed, will also take to the stage as well as the Plastic People of the Universe and others.

Thousands of young Christians from more than 60 countries are arriving in the Czech capital to take part in a European meet-up organized by the Taizé ecumenical community. It is the second time in 24 years the event is being held in Prague; organisers expect up to 30,000 visitors. A first communal prayer is to be held on Monday night. Upcoming programmes include workshops focusing on spirituality, understanding across religions, the legacy of religious reformer Jan Hus, the Battle of the White Mountain, as well as the issues of solidarity, minorities and palliative care.