• 01/29/2024

    The ruling coalition is considering procedural amendments in the lower house that would curb filibustering and obstruction tactics by reducing the amount of time that MPs are allowed to speak in the course of a debate. The governing parties are making the move in response to the latest round of filibustering from the opposition accompanying the government-proposed bill on a postal vote for Czechs living abroad. The initial debate on the postal vote alone took six days with one of the opposition speakers taking the floor for eleven hours. The opposition parties have protested against a change of rules arguing that the governing parties, which have a majority in both chambers, are trying to curb their constitutional rights.

  • 01/29/2024

    Economic advisers to the government and employers' representatives are proposing radical changes to the Labour Code. They argue that in many ways the present Labour Code does not reflect the needs of the evolving market and companies, and are urging greater flexibility in hiring and firing employees, including possible dismissal without cause. Finance Minister Zbyněk Stanjura is in favour of such a change, arguing that with record-low unemployment there is no reason not to loosen the relationship between employee and the employer. According to Novinky.cz the Ministry of Labour is already preparing an amendment to the code, and is considering not only termination of unemployment without cause, but also shortening the two-month notice period to one month or extending the three-month probationary period. Unions are vehemently against the proposed changes.

  • 01/29/2024

    Defence Minister Jana Černochová and US Ambassador to the Czech Republic Bijan Sabet on Monday signed an agreement on the purchase of 24 fifth-generation F-35s for the Czech military. Czechia will pay CZK 150 billion for the fighter jets made by the US manufacturer Lockheed Martin, the most expensive military purchase in the country’s modern history. The first jets should arrive in the country in 2031, the rest will be delivered by 2035. The US aircraft will replace the Swedish Gripen fighters, which Czechia now leases for CZK 1.7 billion a year. The government approved the purchase at the end of last year.

  • 01/29/2024

    The removal of environmental damages inflicted during decades of communist rule is still slow and has not accelerated in recent years, according to a report published by the Supreme Audit Office on Monday. In some instances, the clean-up process has not even started.

    The state has already paid CZK 66.2 billion for the disposal of old environmental burdens, caused by state-owned industrial companies before their privatisation.

    The process of removing all sorts of environmental damages got underway in 1991. At the time of the audit, 120 out of 327 environmental contracts had still not been completed. According to the Environment Ministry's latest estimates, the process of removing old environmental burdens will continue at least until 2042.

    Author: Ruth Fraňková
  • 01/29/2024

    The annual Winter Survival games organized by the Czech Defence Ministry and the Defence University in Brno get underway in the Jeseníky Mountains in the north-east of Czechia on Monday.

    Several dozen professional soldiers, military police and mountain rescuers from Czechia and abroad will be taking part in the endurance competition simulating military patrol and rescue operations in unknown and difficult terrain.

    The four-day competition includes disciplines such as mountaineering, downhill and cross-country skiing, avalanche rescue and first aid and two nights spent out in the open. The event is taking place after a three-year break.

  • 01/28/2024

    Siberian iris, or Iris sibirica in Latin, has been named Plant of the Year 2024 by the Czech Botanical Society.

    The blue herbaceous perennial, which is spread all over Europe and Central Asia, is endangered in Czechia and has a protected status.

    The Plant of the Year campaign, which has been taking place in Czechia since 2021, aims to raise awareness of endangered plant species.

    Author: Ruth Fraňková
  • 01/28/2024

    Monday will be mostly sunny with day temperatures ranging between 3 and 7 degrees Celsius.

    Author: Ruth Fraňková
  • 01/28/2024

    Roughly half of all second-hand cars sold in Czechia have been in an accident, according to a press released published by automotive data company carVertical. Approximately five percent of the pre-owned cars also have an altered mileage, on average by 78,480 kilometres.

    Up to 48.5 percent of used cars sold in Czechia are imported and their average age is 10.1 years, says carVertical. According to Cebia, which monitors the origin of cars on Czech roads, sales of used cars on the Czech market rose by 1.5 per cent to 671,000 vehicles last year. The average price increased by 5.8 percent to CZK 304,700.

    Author: Ruth Fraňková
  • 01/28/2024

    Food prices in Czechia have stabilized and there is no reason for them to grow further, Agriculture Minister Marek Výborný said in a debate programme on Czech Television on Sunday, adding that he will be keeping a close eye on food price trends.

    According to Tomáš Prouza, President of the Union of Commerce and Tourism, the reduction in VAT on food products from 15 to 12 percent, which has been in force since the beginning of the year, has had a positive impact on prices of food.

    Author: Ruth Fraňková
  • 01/28/2024

    Dozens of people took part in a candlelight procession in memory of the victims of the Holocaust through the former WWII ghetto of Terezín on Saturday evening.

    The procession started from the former railway siding, from which more than 36,000 Terezín prisoners were deported to the Auschwitz–Birkenau extermination camp.

    The commemorative act continued at the Jewish Cemetery in presence of the director of the Terezín Memorial, Jan Roubínek, and European Commission Vice-President Věra Jourová.

    In her speech, Ms Jourová, stressed the need not only to remember the victims of the Holocaust, but also to protect fellow Jewish citizens from anti-Semitic attacks that have multiplied since the October 7 Hamas attack.

    Author: Ruth Fraňková

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