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Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský is in London for the second of a two-day visit to the UK, where he will meet with the Deputy National Security Adviser Nick Catsaras in the morning, and in the afternoon will engage in a debate with students at University College London, and also present a Gratias Agit award to George Edward Scott, a historian and writer.
Lipavský on Thursday met with his UK counterpart, David Lammy, to discuss bilateral relations, the conflict in Ukraine, and current foreign policy issues.
Czechia is failing to retain foreign workers, especially qualified ones, with a quarter of the foreign workforce leaving the country within two years of arrival, Minister of the Interior Vít Rakušan said on Thursday at the conference of the Central European branch of the Aspen Institute in Prague.
The inability to retain foreign workers affects the country's economic competitiveness. Low wages and relatively high costs play a role in the decision to stay or leave. At the end of the first half of this year, the Labour Office registered over 827,600 foreign employees. The number has doubled in the past seven years, since June 2017. Nonetheless, Czechia is one of the countries with the lowest unemployment in the European Union.
The District Court for Prague 8 has found psychiatrist Jan Cimický guilty of rape and extortion. It remains unclear whether the verdict addresses all 39 counts in the indictment, as Judge Petr Novák is still delivering the ruling. The sentence and legal classification of the crimes have yet to be announced. The verdict is not final, as both parties can appeal to the Municipal Court in Prague.
The 76-year-old psychiatrist, absent from today’s hearing, had only attended the initial session, where he denied the charges. Prosecutor Martina Adámková requested a five-year prison sentence, while Cimický’s lawyer, Miroslav Kučerka, sought acquittal.
The prosecution alleges that between 1979 and 2019, Cimický committed nearly 40 acts, including groping and kissing, often targeting patients at the Bohnice Psychiatric Hospital and the Blue Lagoon Mental Health Center. Victims included interns, some under 18. Thirty-five acts were classified as extortion under the old Criminal Code, while the remaining four, post-2010, were defined as rape.
The European Commission (EC) in its new forecast downgraded the estimate of this year's growth of the Czech economy to 1 percent from 1.2 percent in the spring forecast. The Czech economy will expand by 2.4 percent next year, the EC said. In the spring, it predicted a 2.8 percent expansion.
The Commission also forecast today that GDP growth would reach 2.7 percent in 2026. Household spending to be supported by real wage growth coupled with a fall in inflation should be the main driver of GDP growth, the EC said.
The Commission expects inflation to be 2.7 percent this year and to fall to 2.4 percent next year. It should drop to 2 percent, the Czech National Bank's (CNB) target, in 2026.
The number of secondary school students in Czechia has grown by 8% over the past decade to nearly 485,000, with the largest increases in the Central Bohemian Region and Prague.
Of the 484,758 students, 99% were Czech residents, with 5,412 registered abroad, including 3,951 from Ukraine. Over the decade, student numbers rose by 24% in the Central Bohemian Region, 20% in Prague, and declined by 4% in the Moravian-Silesian Region. Non-matriculation programs accounted for 21% of students, with the highest enrollment in regions like Karlovy Vary and Ústí nad Labem and the lowest in Prague at 12%.
In October, over 33,000 Czechs and Slovaks participated in the Together Forward challenge, a free initiative by coach Václav Tomanec to promote mental health care. The challenge provided practical tools to manage stress, build healthy habits, and enhance overall well-being.
With a study by the National Institute of Mental Health revealing that 20% of Czechs face depression or anxiety symptoms, the challenge offered timely support. Tomanec emphasized that accessible guidance and community connection are vital to addressing the growing mental health crisis.
Mostly foggy and overcast. Temperatures will be around 2 to 6 °C during the day and 2 to -4 °C during the night.
To commemorate the anniversary of the death of the great Moravian thinker and religious leader John Amos Comenius, Danny Bate spoke to scholar Lenka Pospíšilová about his life, legacy and relevance for the modern world.
An exhibition showcasing the work of photographer Helena Wilson got underway at the Prague City Gallery’s House of Photography earlier this week. Featuring over 140 images, it offers an intimate glimpse into life under communism in Czechoslovakia, as well as Wilson’s later projects in Canada and Cuba.
In October, the team at Charles Games, the creators of such games as Playing Kafka and Attentat 1942, released Velvet 89, an immersive and educational experience that invites players to turn investigator in five cities across Czechoslovakia. Ahead of the thirty-fifth anniversary of the Velvet Revolution on November 17th, Danny Bate spoke to designer, animator and university lecturer Ondřej Javora, who was behind the graphics of the new game.
Today marks 100 years since the death of painter Jakub Schikaneder, considered one of the most important Czech painters of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, best known for his melancholic paintings of Prague in the evening and dusk.
Climate strikes have begun across Czech universities, with events taking place over the next seven days in Prague, Brno, and Olomouc.
This weekend, Czechia will commemorate two significant anniversaries: 35 years since the fall of the Communist regime and 85 years since the Nazi closure of Czech universities.
Thirty-five years ago the Communist regime in Czechoslovakia started to crumble. Czechast brings you a perspective of Prague both before and after the fall of Communism.
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