• 04/20/2024

    Wintery conditions have returned to the Czech mountains, with 5 to 20 centimetres of snow falling in high mountain areas between Friday morning and Saturday morning.

    Meteorologists measured the biggest increases in Šumava, where around 30 centimetres fell on the ridges, the Czech Hydro-Meteorological Institute said on Saturday.

    Author: Ian Willoughby
  • 04/20/2024

    One-fifth of first year students at Czech secondary schools lack even a minimum level of scientific literacy and have major problems solving the simplest science problems, according to a report from the national schools inspecting body cited by the Czech News Agency on Saturday. What’s more, 29 percent of the students surveyed possess no higher than a minimum level of scientific literacy, the authors of the study, which was conducted in 2022/2023, said.

    The tests confirmed that students’ results were influenced by their family background and social status, which inspectors have been pointing out for some time.

    Author: Ian Willoughby
  • 04/20/2024

    Two new plaques in honour of victims of the Communist regime have been installed in Prague by the Final Address (Poslední adresa) civic group, Czech Television reported.

    Jaroslav Klabík joined the resistance against the Communist regime after the party took power in 1948 and died in pre-trial detention after being arrested three years later. A memorial to him was placed at his former home by Hradčanská Metro station on Friday.

    Antonín Šindelář, a builder and politician, was arrested for political activities in 1950 and died in prison five years later. A plaque in his honour was put up by his great-nieces in the Nusle district.

    Author: Ian Willoughby
  • 04/20/2024

    The main opposition party ANO have cancelled their planned attendance at a meeting to discuss pension reform with President Petr Pavel on Monday. ANO said this was because the coalition government had declared an intention to push through their reforms regardless of the views of the opposition.

    President Pavel said he was disappointed by ANO’s decision, adding that any further talks in the hitherto broad format were now pointless.

    The head of state will, however, go ahead with a meeting with the minister of labour and social affairs, Marian Jurečka, who is due to submit a draft pension reform programme at a cabinet meeting later this month.

    Author: Ian Willoughby
  • 04/20/2024

    MP Petr Bystroň of the German far-right party AfD received EUR 20,000 from the Russian group behind the Czech-based propaganda website Voice of Europe, suggests an audio recording played last week to the Czech lower house’s committee overseeing the BIS counter-intelligence service, the Czech news outlet Denik N and the Czech outlets Zeit and ARD reported.

    The recording was made by BIS, which uncovered the Russian network group and accused it of paying money to European politicians and attempting to interfere in Europe Parliament elections.

    Two Russian individuals and one company were placed on Czechia’s own sanctions list when the news broke in late February.

    Mr. Bystroň, who is of Czech origin, denies any wrongdoing.

    Author: Ian Willoughby
  • 04/20/2024

    It should be mainly overcast in Czechia on Sunday, with an average high temperature of 7 degrees Celsius. Similar weather is expected in the early part of the next week.

    Author: Ian Willoughby
  • 04/20/2024

    Former Czech prime minister Andrej Babiš has announced that his marriage to his wife Monika has ended after 30 years together. Mr. Babiš, who is 69, revealed the news in a social media post.

    Monika Babišová was the second wife of the ANO leader and the couple have two children.

    Slovak-born Mr. Babiš, who became wealthy in the 1990s with the Agrofert conglomerate, is a dollar billionaire and estimated by Forbes magazine to be the seventh richest Czech.

    Author: Ian Willoughby
  • 04/19/2024

    Saturday should be overcast around most of the country with rain or snow in the mountain regions and day temperatures between 4 and 8 degrees Celsius.

  • 04/19/2024

    The Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs is advising Czech citizens in Israel to exercise increased caution with regard to the possible deterioration of the security situation following an attack on the Iranian military base near the city of Isfahan. The warning was issued via the ministry’s travel data base Drozd. Close to a hundred Czechs are registered as being in the country at this time, but according to the Czech ambassador in Israel the actual number could be much higher.

  • 04/19/2024

    Czech hospitals are facing a significant reorganization to reflect the aging of the population and the growing number of people in need of long-term care. In cooperation with insurance companies hospitals around the country are going to reduce the number of acute beds, which are not being fully used, and turn them into beds for follow-up and long-term care where there is a dire need for them. "We are already short of capacity and that is nothing compared to what will come after 2030 when the population will really start to age by leaps and bounds and morbidity will increase, Ladislav Dušek, director of the Institute of Health Information and Statistics told journalists. He said hospitals have eight to ten years to prepare for the demographic change.

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