Daily news summary

Government makes recommendations to its successor

Maintaining a strong negotiating position in the EU, increasing defense spending, implementing anti-drought measures and developing a competitive economy based on high skills and high value-added products; those are some of the Soboka government’ s recommendations to the future administration.

The document, cited by the ctk news agency, enumerates some of the current government’s biggest achievements, among them stabilizing the country’s finances, reducing unemployment and increasing the minimum wage.

Although the present administration did not adopt a time frame for euro adoption, it says the next government should open a public debate on joining the euro.

Finance minister insists there is no money for wage hikes

Finance Minister Ivan Pilný from the ANO party maintains that there is no money left in next year’s draft budget for wage hikes for public sector employees.

The minister says that the proposed 15 percent wage hike for teachers and 10 percent increase for other public sector employees would require an additional 33 billion crowns and would increase next year’s budget deficit to close to 100 billion crowns.

The minister also dismissed the prime minister’s proposal that the money could come from the finances saved by individual ministries, saying the idea is unrealistic and the money is simply not there.

The coalition parties are to meet on Monday to debate the issue.

Damage by fire that ravaged Guty church estimated at 50 million crowns

The fire that ravaged a rare 16th century wooden church in Třinec-Guty in August of this year caused damages of at least 50 million crowns, according to the Catholic Church parish which owns it.

The church was burnt to the ground and even its bells melted in the blaze, its wood carved interiors and precious paintings from the first half of the 16th century are irreplaceable.

Work on a new church is to begin next year. Like its predecessor from 1563, will be made of oak and pine-wood. The new house of prayer is estimated to cost around 20 million crowns.

Road Directorate to issue final warning over illegal billboards

The Road and Rail Directorate says it has counted some 500 billboards located in the close vicinity of highways and 1st class roads in violation of the law.

The road authorities say they will give owners one final warning before dismantling the billboards and making them pay for the service.

The law, which came into force on September 1st, bans advertisement billboards within 250 meters from the roads in view of boosting safety.

The legislation has met with strong opposition from outdoor advertising operators some of whom attempted to bypass it by replacing advertisements with gigantic Czech flags and other non-commercial posters.

Police charge two men with theft of weapons at Vrbetice site

The police have filed charges against two men who reportedly collected and stole weapons from an off- limits area in the vicinity of the Vrbetice munitions depot in the south-east of the country which was almost completely destroyed by a series of explosions in 2015.

Weapons, ammunitions and other explosives were scattered over a wide area, which is still being combed by explosives experts and remains off-limits to the public.

The two men repeatedly violated the ban to steal weapons and ammunition which were confiscated in home raids. Security in the area has been stepped up as a result.

Rise in learning disabilities among students

In recent years there has been an increase in the number of secondary school students suffering from various forms of learning disabilities such as dyslexia and dysgraphia, according to the Czech Education Ministry.

The fact that this increase is not registered in primary schools suggests that such defects are long undetected, the ministry says in a report released on Dyslexia Day, marked for the 8th time this year.

Some statistics suggest that up to 15 percent of the population suffer from some learning disability. Experts believe that dyslexia is most often hereditary but can also be caused by problems during pregnancy or an injury.

Weather forecast

Sunday should be overcast and rainy with day temperatures between 15 and 19 degrees Celsius in the western parts of the country, and 20 to 24 degrees in Moravia.