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The US decision to suspend foreign aid funding will impact People in Need, one of Czechia’s largest humanitarian organisations. The US government provides about a quarter of its budget, and the organisation says the situation remains unclear. However, organisations supplying humanitarian aid and life-saving emergency assistance have received exemptions, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced on Wednesday.
On his first day in office, President Trump ordered a ninety-day freeze on foreign aid to assess its effectiveness and alignment with US policy. In recent days, the US State Department instructed affected organisations, including People in Need, to halt all programmes funded by US aid. People in Need operates in over forty countries with a budget of 6.1 billion crowns as of 2023.
Třinec Iron and Steel Works, the producer of long rolled-steel products based in the Moravian-Silesian Region, is investing one billion euros (roughly twenty-five billion crowns) into ecological steel-production technologies, CEO Roman Heide said at a press conference on Thursday. The largest part of the investment will go towards building a new electric arc furnace, which will replace production in one of the two existing blast furnaces.
The main reason behind the change is meeting the goals of the Green Deal for Europe through a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions. According to the company, this is the largest investment in the steel industry in Czechia since the 1980s. The new electric furnace should be under construction from 2026 to the end of 2028.
Czechia’s public finance deficit was 2.8% of gross domestic product (GDP) last year, the Ministry of Finance said in its macroeconomic forecast on Thursday. For the first time since 2019, the deficit fell below 3% of GDP, which is one of the criteria for introducing the euro to the country. The ministry expects a further reduction in the deficit to 2.3% of GDP this year.
The public finance balance is calculated from the difference between the income and the expenditure of ministries and other state authorities, cities and municipalities, as well as public universities, public research institutes and health insurance companies.
The Czech short film The Compatriot (Krajan), which won a Student Oscar and was shortlisted for the Oscars, will be shown in around six hundred cinemas in the USA and Canada, director of the Film School in Písek (FAMO) Vladana Terčová informed ČTK on Thursday.
The short film depicts the meeting of a Czech widower and a German SS officer, both of Sudeten origin, during New Year's Eve 1944 in a cottage cut off from civilisation. The twenty-five-minute drama was created in difficult conditions over four days of filming. Its directors Viktor Horák and Pavel Sýkora, graduates of FAMO, are currently working on their first feature film, and believe that the success of The Compatriot will help them to raise money for its production.
Legendary hockey forward Jaromír Jágr has sold 80% of the Kladno hockey club to businessman Tomáš Drastil, while retaining a 20% stake, as confirmed at a press conference on Thursday. The fifty-two-year-old Jágr, who still plays for Kladno in the Czech Extraliga, became the 100% owner of the club in 2017, when he acquired a 30% stake from the city of Kladno.
Mr. Jágr held the majority stake in the club from 2011, when he and the city took it over, after his father, Jaromír Jágr Sr., ended his long-term position as head coach.
Czech tennis player Jiří Lehečka will start the Davis Cup qualifier round on Friday, playing against South Korean Gerard Campana Lee, as decided at Thursday’s draw. The twenty-three-year-old player from Mladá Boleslav will face the 382nd-ranked player in the world on a hard court in Ostrava from 3:00 pm. In the second singles match, Tomáš Macháč will face Kwon Soon-woo.
The programme will continue on Saturday from 12:00 with doubles. Debuting captain of the Czech team Tomáš Berdych has nominated Adam Pavlásek and Jakub Menšík for the match. The winner of the Czechia vs. South Korea qualifier will then in September face the winner of the match between the US and Taiwan. The quarter finals for the top eight places will take place in Bologna, Italy in November.
Friday’s weather will be cloudy, with rain or showers in places, and snowfall above 400m. Highest temperatures will be between 2 and 6°C, and up to 8°C in southern Moravia.
On his first day back in office, US President Trump halted all foreign assistance from the United States – which is the world's largest aid donor. Trump’s decision to stop funding foreign aid will also affect Czech humanitarian and non-profit organizations. Funding from these programs represents about a quarter of the organization's budget for People in Need, one of Czechia’s foremost NGOs. However, just yesterday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that exemptions had been made in US aid for humanitarian work. So, I reached out to the Director of Institutional Relations at People in Need Richard Walker, to see how People in Need is adjusting to the news.
Historic hockey trophies, medals, and iconic sports gear—these are just some of the artefacts on display at the Czech Hockey Hall of Fame. Located on Prague’s Nekázanka Street in the heart of the city, the Hall reopened last year, showcasing the sport’s greatest moments, with each item telling its own unique story.
Aggression in Czech schools is on the rise. In the course of last week alone police received 13 emergency calls from schools reporting attacks on teachers or classmates. Officers arrested altogether 10 persons and seized one firearm, two magazines, two knives, an axe and a mock revolver. How are schools preparing for such crisis situations?
Nestled beneath the Vyšehrad Rock on the banks of the Vltava River, Podskalí is a lesser-known but historically rich area of Prague. Once a bustling port village and a vital part of the city’s economy, Podskalí has transformed over the centuries into a charming destination that seamlessly blends history, culture, and leisure.
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