Daily news summary
General Petr Pavel speaks with Russia’s Chief of Staff
The second highest NATO official, Czech General Petr Pavel, has held talks with Valery Gerasimov, the current Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Russia, and first Deputy Defence Minister, the Russian Defence Ministry informed on Friday. The conversation, which took place over the phone, was the first contact between the Russian armed forces with a representative of NATO since mutual military cooperation was frozen in April 2014 over the Russian occupation of Crimea. The Russian defence ministry said the contact was initiated by NATO, and its main topic was possible renewal
Czech growth higher than predicted at close of 2016
Czech economic growth speeded up in the last quarter of 2016 to 1.9 percent according to revised figures released by the Czech Statistical Office on Friday. This compares with the previous estimate for annual growth for the fourth quarter of 1.7 percent. The statistical office though confirmed that year on year economic growth for the whole of 2016 was 2.3 percent. Strong domestic demand and exports contributed to the higher fourth quarter figure.
Demagog: Czech politicians not always trustworthy
Czech politicians rarely lie, but they often use sweeping statements which are dubious or hard to confirm, according to a survey conducted by the watchdog Demagog.cz. The survey is based on an analysis of 7,500 claims made by 350 politicians in televised debates or interviews in the media. Only 60 percent of the claims made were verifiable and trustworthy, Demagog concluded. The watchdog says that in this respect the situation in the Czech Republic is comparable to that in other European states.
Czech Statistics Office: Czech agriculture shows record profit for 2016
Czech farmers made a record profit in 2016, according to preliminary figures released by the Czech Statistics Office on Friday. Agricultural earnings increased by nearly 26 percent on the previous year, to 20.22 billion crowns, which represents the second best result since 2000. The value of agricultural production increased by 1.8 percent year-on-year to 129.3 billion crowns. Revenues from cultivation of crops reached 77.3 billion and livestock production dropped slightly to total 51.6 billion.
Ondřej Holy wins Apollo award
These Semi Feelings, They Are Everywhere by dné (AKA Ondřej Holý) has won the Apollo Critics’ Choice Award for Best LP of 2016. The keyboard-based album, which came out on German label Majestic Casual, was recorded in large part in Holý’s Prague bedroom but has already won broad acclaim. It recently won the Vinyla alternative music prize for Czech LP of the year.
Athlete Denisa Rosolová injured at European Indoor Championship in Belgrade
Czech athlete Denisa Rosolová was injured on Friday after a fall in a women’s 400 metres qualifying race at the European Indoor Championship in Belgrade. The Czech runner suffered an injury after being jostled by two other competitors. The 2011 European Indoor Champion was taken to hospital with pains in the head and ribs.
Weather
The upcoming weekend is expected to be mostly sunny with daytime highs reaching up to 18 degrees Celsius. The weather will take a turn for the worse on Sunday.
