News

Trade unions hold series of strikes to protest against government reforms

Around one million people have joined the series of strikes held by Czech trade unions in protest of the government reforms. It is being described as one of the largest protests since the fall of communism. The unions are particularly critical of reforms implemented in the education and health sectors, as well as the government’s plan to increase the retirement age in the Czech Republic.

The strike has been symbolically joined by Czech Post, one of the country’s largest employers with 37,000 workers. The union at another large Czech employer, Czech Railways, declined to take part. Czech train drivers, however, did stop around one thousand passenger trains for just over an hour. Public transport in many cities and towns stopped as well. About 30,000 people out of a total of about 200,000 people working in the Czech health sector have also participated in the strike. Services have been limited but emergency wards have been kept open.

PM: strike was politically motivated

Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek said the strike held by trade unions on Tuesday was politically motivated. Mr Topolánek said the country is not threatened by the reforms against which the unions protested, but by not having enough of them. According to the chairman of the opposition Social Democrats Jiří Paroubek the number of those joining the strike was huge and the government should regard it as a challenge.

Judges in child abuse care dismiss criticism by Cyril Svoboda

Judges involved in the Kuřim child abuse case have dismissed criticism by Minister Cyril Svoboda for not holding the case behind closed doors. Mr Svoboda said that the fact the case was being reported on in such detail could threaten the health of the two boys whose mother and aunt are on trial. Mr Svoboda, who is minister for legislation, said Judge Pavel Goth was more concerned with becoming famous than protecting the boys, who allegedly suffered abuse at the hands of a number of adults. The chairman of the regional court in Brno, Jaromír Pařízek, said Minister Svoboda had no authority to criticize the court proceedings.

EU Agency: Czech Republic not sufficiently fighting racism

The Czech Republic is listed among the EU countries that don’t sufficiently fight against racism and xenophobia, it follows from the annual report by the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights released on Tuesday. The report calls on the countries to apply efficient sanctions against discrimination on ethnic and racial grounds. It singles out the Czech Republic, Cyprus, Luxembourg and Spain as countries with no permanent commission to deal with the cases of discrimination.

US website lists Havel among world’s best intellectuals

The US website Foreign Policy has included former Czech president Václav Havel on a list of the one hundred intellectuals whose ideas have most influenced present world developments. The Foreign Policy list features philosophers, writers, politicians and other leading figures, including Umberto Eco, Garry Kasparov and Salman Rushdie. The personalities are listed in alphabetical order, without being compared in terms of intellectual qualities or other criteria.

Number of dollar millionaires in Czech Rep. up to 17,000

The number of dollar millionaires has been rising in the Czech Republic owing to economic growth and strong crown. Last year the number of Czech millionaires reached 17,000, a year-on-year increase by 15 percent, according to a study published by the companies Capgemini and Merryll Lynch today. The millionaires are mostly business people who have sold or left their companies. Another large group consists of managers and experts of large international companies active in the Czech Republic.

Jan Koller joins Samara

The Czech football player Jan Koller has signed a 1.5 year contract with the Russian club Samara. The 35-year old forward transferred to the top Russian league after half a season with Germany’s Nuremberg. Koller retired from international football after the Czech Republic was eliminated from the European Championship at the group stage. With 55 international goals he is the greatest Czech goal-scorer of all time.

Berdych and Záhlavová-Strýcová advance to second round at Wimbledon

Czech tennis player Tomáš Berdych beat Russia’s Jevgenij Koroljov 4:6, 6:1, 6:4, 3:6, 7:5 in the first round of the Wimbledon Championships in tennis on Monday and advanced to the tournament’s second round. Czech number one Nicole Vaidišová and Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová have also made it through to the second round.

Weather

The skies will be partly cloudy with occasional showers. Daytime temperatures are set to reach the highs of around 25 degrees Celsius.