• Škoda sees operating profit almost triple
    03/13/2024

    The Czech-based carmaker Škoda saw its operating profit increase by 182 percent year-on-year to almost CZK 45 billion last year, while sales rose by 26 percent. The information was published by German car company Volkswagen, which owns Škoda Auto, in an annual report.

    Škoda Auto increased its production by 16 percent in 2023, the report said.

    The company, which sells most of its cars in Europe, registered a rise in sales in Western Europe of 27.4 percent on the previous year.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Sparta fly to England for virtual dead rubber against Liverpool
    03/13/2024

    Sparta Prague travelled to England on Wednesday for a game against Liverpool in the Europa League, European soccer’s second-tier club competition. However, the Czech title-holders lost the first leg of the round of 16 tie 5:1 in Prague last week, leaving them with an extremely low chance of advancing to the quarter-finals on Thursday night.

    Sparta played at Liverpool’s Anfield Road stadium once before – also in the Europa League – when they lost 1:0, following a 0:0 draw in Prague, in 2011.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Weather forecast
    03/13/2024

    It should be overcast on Thursday, with an average high temperature of 12 degrees Celsius. The following days are expected to see similar weather.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Labour Office head warns of changing requirements on labour market
    03/13/2024

    Roughly 300,000 people are at risk of losing their jobs in the next five years and about one million will have to enhance their professional skills, the head of the Labour Office, Daniel Krištof, told Czech Television. He said the Labour Office was trying to prepare applicants for the changing requirements, particularly in the field of IT, but noted that interest in training and requalification courses is very low particularly among older applicants who are often at risk of losing their job. One of the reasons behind the reported lack of interest is that Czechia has an unemployment rate of 4 percent, the third lowest in Europe.
    Author: Daniela Lazarová

  • Ruling parties call parliament session over Babiš email

    03/13/2024

    The leaders of the five coalition parties in government are calling for an extraordinary meeting of the lower house in response to information that ANO party leader Andrej Babiš had asked his associates for sensitive information about Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský and his family. The mail, which contained vulgar language, was accidentally sent to the wrong address and later reported on by Novinky.cz. Lipavský expressed disgust at the content of the mail. Members of the ruling collation accused the opposition leader of using methods reminiscent of the former communist secret police. Babiš later apologized for the vulgar language, but said he saw nothing wrong with his request.
    Author: Daniela Lazarová

  • STEM: Support for NATO membership consistently high among Czechs
    03/12/2024

    Support for Czechia’s membership in NATO is consistently high among Czechs, according to the results of public opinion surveys. Twenty-five years after the Czech Republic joined the alliance 70 percent of Czechs welcome its membership in the organization, according to a January survey by the STEM institute. Majority support for NATO membership has been long-standing, never dropping below 50 percent since the country’s accession. Since 2001 it has remained above 70 percent. It was at its highest in March 2022, not long after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, when 78 percent of respondents expressed themselves in favour of Czech membership in NATO.
    Author: Daniela Lazarová

  • Weather forecast
    03/12/2024

    Wednesday should be partly cloudy to overcast with some rain in the south and day temperatures between 9 and 14 degrees Celsius.

  • Train route north of Prague closed for four hours after morning collision
    03/12/2024

    The train route to Usti nad Labem, north of Prague, was closed for four hours on Tuesday morning after a freight train carrying hazardous substances collided with a passenger car near Libčice nad Vltavou, the Czech Press Agency reported.  Nobody was hurt in the accident and the cargo on the train remained intact. The preliminarily damage estimate is around 800.000 crowns. The cause of the accident is being investigated.
    Author: Daniela Lazarová

  • Doctors register growing incidence of tuberculosis in Czechia
    03/12/2024

    Health data suggest that there has been a significant increase in tuberculosis cases in Czechia in recent years. According to statistics there was a 17-percent increase in tuberculosis cases in 2023, with almost half of the 447 cases being foreigners, the majority from Ukraine, but also Vietnam and Romania. It is estimated that up to 500 more cases could have gone unreported. Doctors are especially concerned about the growing number of people for whom conventional treatment is not working.
    Author: Daniela Lazarová

  • ANO leader Andrej Babiš under fire for seeking compromising info on foreign minister
    03/12/2024

    The head of the opposition ANO party Andrej Babiš is under fire for having requested his associates to find compromising information about Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský and his family. The mail which contained vulgar language was accidentally sent to the wrong address and later reported on by Novinky.cz. Lipavský expressed disgust at the content of the email. Members of the ruling collation accused the opposition leader of using stb tactics, referring to the methods of the former communist secret police. Babiš later apologized for the vulgar language, but said he saw nothing wrong with his actions.
    Author: Daniela Lazarová

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