• 10/20/2024

    The opposition ANO party has slammed the government’s draft budget for 2025, saying it wants to return the draft to the cabinet for reworking. The head of the party's deputies’ group in the lower house Alena Schillerová criticized reduced pro-growth investments and lower spending on transport infrastructure in relation to gross domestic product. The lower house is due to debate the draft budget in its first reading on Wednesday. Although it is expected to stir a heated debate, the ruling coalition has enough votes to push it through.

  • 10/20/2024

    The Czech Judges Union is demanding an immediate increase in the total amount of money spent on salaries for court employees and the creation of a separate salary table that would take into account the specifics of their work. At the end of a two-day congress in Tabor the Union adopted a resolution stating that it continues to support all forms of protest, including strikes, if the legitimate wage demands of court employees are not met. Court employees remain on strike alert following a recent three-day strike over low wages. The unions are due to present their demands to Justice Minister Pavel Blažek on Thursday.

  • 10/19/2024

    In addition to lung, respiratory and asthma diseases, long-term inhalation of airborne dust particles can also contribute to heart disease, vascular disease and dementia, experts from the Czech Medical Society of Jan Evangelista Purkyně warned in a press release published by the ctk news agency. The study concerns long-term inhalation of small dust particles from industrial activity, car and air traffic or during large forest fires. The World Health Organization has calculated the level at which the amount of PM2.5 in the air is safe and in the Czech Republic only a few remote mountain areas are under the stated limit. An amendment to the law currently being drafted aims to address the problem.

  • 10/19/2024

    Archaeologists have discovered the largest Early Bronze Age burial site of the Nitran culture unearthed to date in Central Moravia near Olomouc. The site was discovered during exploratory work on the route of the future D35 motorway between Křelov and Neředín. The burial site of the Nitra culture, which inhabited the territory of eastern Moravia and south-western Slovakia in the Early Bronze Age (2100 - 1800 BC), contained skeletal remains, copper ornaments, bone beads, stone arrows, and copper rings, among others. It is one of the biggest archeological discoveries in the region.

  • 10/19/2024

    The newly elected leader of the Christian Democrats, Agriculture Minister Marek Výborný has said his main task will be to increase the party’s popularity ahead of the 2025 general elections. Výborný, who led the ruling party in the past, promised continuity in party priorities, such as affordable housing, support for families with childen and quality education.

    Výborný was elected to the top post by 159 votes out of 266 cast, defeating his main rival Labour Minister Marian Jurečka. Výborný returns to the top post after a five year break. He resigned as party leader in January 2020 following the death of his wife.

  • 10/19/2024

    Sunday should be mostly clear with day temperatures between 13 and 18 degrees Celsius.

  • 10/19/2024

    The Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the Czech Academy of Sciences is opening a laboratory in Boston. The move puts the institute in proximity to world-leading scientific institutions, such as Harvard University, MIT, and Boston Medical Center. As the first institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences to establish an overseas branch, IOCB will track the latest trends in biomedical research in the very heart of the global scientific community. The launch of the new lab in the United States marks a major boost for Czech science.

  • 10/19/2024

    Czech Health Minister Vlastimil Válek will meet next week with GPs and outpatient specialists who are planning a two-day strike at the end of October. The protest is against the healthcare funding decree for 2025, which doctors say fails to take into account rising costs. Hospitals have said they will not join the strike action, although according to Milan Kubek, president of the Czech Medical Chamber, the Chamber supports the protest of general practitioners and outpatient specialists. The strike is planned for October 29 to October 30.

  • 10/19/2024

    Petr Witowski, the general director of the Prague Transport Company, has said he has no intention of resigning in connection with the massive fraud scandal in the company. Police raided the company’s offices on Monday initiating criminal proceedings against 13 individuals for suspected bribery involving public contracts. Although Witowski was not among those charged, Prague Mayor Bohuslav Svoboda on Friday called for his resignation, together with that of implicated. He also called for an open competition to fill the top post. Witowski said that in such a case he would apply for the job.

  • 10/18/2024

    Agriculture Minister Marek Výborný was elected leader of the Christian Democrats at the party’s conference in Olomouc on Friday. He was elected by 159 votes out of 266 cast, defeating the incumbent party chair Marian Jurečka. Výborný returns to the top post after a five year break. He resigned as party leader in January 2020 following the death of his wife. The old-new leader told reporters that his main task would be to increase the party’s popularity ahead of the 2025 general elections.

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