• Prosecutor's Office in Kyiv files charges against ring-leaders of illegal surrogate baby business in Prague
    04/12/2023

    The Prosecutor's Office in Kyiv has filed charges against a group of people who conducted an illegal  surrogate baby business in Prague. The babies were born in Prague to surrogate Ukrainian mothers and sold to parents in countries the world over. The price of a baby was reportedly around 60,000 euros. The main suspects are Ukrainian nationals but Czechs were involved as well. Czech police officers have been securing key evidence in Prague within an extensive international investigation. It emerged that the ring-leaders had no idea where the babies ended up and how they were being cared for.
    Author: Daniela Lazarová

  • Office of Labour: Unemployment falls to 3.7 percent
    04/12/2023

    Unemployment in Czechia fell from 3.9 percent in February to 3.7 percent last month, according to data released by the Czech Office of Labour on Wednesday.

    Around 273,500 people were out of work in March, 9,000 fewer than the previous month.

    The joblessness rate in March last year was 3.4 percent, as recorded by the Office of Labour.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Lipavský calls for more attention to health following deaths of three diplomats
    04/12/2023

    The Czech minister of foreign affairs, Jan Lipavský, has written to the country’s diplomats urging them to take care of their health, Seznam Zprávy reported on Wednesday. The letter follows the deaths of three Czech diplomats within a five-month period.

    Mr. Lipavský told members of the country’s diplomatic service that all jobs had their limits and that they ought to look after their physical and mental health.

    The Czech ambassador to Switzerland, Kateřina Fialková (55), died in November, the ambassador to Poland, Jakub Dürr (46), passed away in February and deputy ambassador to Israel, Monika Studená (50), died last month.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Weather forecast
    04/11/2023

    It should be mainly overcast in Czechia on Wednesday, with an average high temperature of 12 degrees Celsius. Temperatures of 8 or 9 degrees Celsius are expected on the following days.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Prague Zoo raising admission prices
    04/11/2023

    Prague Zoo is planning to raise admission prices in the near future, the Czech News Agency reported on Tuesday. While it now costs CZK 250 for an adult’s ticket at the zoo’s box office, that price is now set to climb to CZK 330. It will be CZK 300 if tickets are purchased online.

    Officials say the rise is necessary following an increase in the costs of power and other amenities. The last time Prague Zoo upped entrance fees was in 2020.

  • Fiala: Full government savings plan to be revealed in month
    04/11/2023

    Prime Minister Petr Fiala says the government’s concrete plans to make savings in the state budget will be presented in a month’s time. He said on Tuesday that working drafts that had been leaked to the media were not final versions and were lacking context.

    Mr. Fiala said he rejected information published by the media on possible reforms of the public finances, including changes to the taxation system.

    Earlier this year the government said it aimed to reduce the state budget deficit by CZK 70 billion in 2023.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Survey: Three-quarters against rise in pension age
    04/11/2023

    Three-quarters of Czechs are not in favour of an increase in the age at which people qualify for state old-age pensions, suggests a survey conducted by the Median polling agency for Radiožurnál.

    The government is due to present the key elements of a plan to reform the pension system this month and there have been reports the pension age could rise, from the present 64 to 68, for today’s 30-somethings.

    The Median study indicates that young people are not overly concerned by the mooted move, with only 27 percent of respondents aged 18 to 29 saying they are against.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Ministry to close over one-third of Czech tax offices
    04/11/2023

    The Czech Ministry of Finance is set to close 77 of the country’s 201 tax offices from July this year. Some 56 of the branches set for closure are already working in a limited mode.

    The ministry said on Tuesday that the Financial Administration would offer the public special telephone help lines. It will also extend its trips to municipalities in the period when tax returns are mainly filed.

    The coalition government is committed to saving tens of billions of crowns from the state budget this year.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Key communist-era dissident Dana Němcová dies at 89
    04/11/2023

    The leading Czech communist-era dissident Dana Němcová has died at the age of 89. She was an early signatory of the Charter 77 human rights document. She also co-founded the Committee for the Defence of the Unjustly Prosecuted, which provided assistance to the victims of communist repression.

    A psychologist by profession, she herself was forced to do menial jobs and also received a six-month jail term.

    After 1989 Dana Němcová was briefly a deputy in the Federal Assembly before devoting her energies to human rights and helping the socially excluded.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Czechs still saving on gas and energy
    04/11/2023

    Energy consumption in Czechia declined significantly last year and the trend has continued into the first quarter of 2023, according to data published by the Energy Regulatory Office. Gas consumption in the first quarter is down by 13.3 percent year-on-year, electricity consumption has dropped by five percent. Last year's gas consumption in Czechia was the lowest in eight years. Electricity consumption in 2022 fell by almost four percent year-on-year.
    Author: Daniela Lazarová

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