News

Janota warns of need for financial reform

The finance minister, Eduard Janota, has warned that the Czech Republic’s position on the financial markets could weaken significantly unless fundamental reforms are undertaken. Asked whether the country could go bankrupt otherwise, Minister Janota said it was not currently able to secure money for pensions, wages and investments on the financial markets. Speaking in Brussels, he also said adopting the common European currency in around 2015 would be unrealistic unless reforms were made. Mr Janota, a member of a caretaker cabinet that will serve until elections later this year, said there was little will to implement the necessary changes at the present time.

Baby injured by falling icicle in Prague

A baby boy was seriously injured when he was hit by a falling icicle in the Prague district of Nusle on Tuesday. The infant, who has a bad head injury, is currently in intensive care at a hospital in the city. The ice hit the baby in front of a building owned by the city, though it is not clear if it fell from there or a neighbouring, privately-owned building. A worker who examined roofs on the street prior to the incident said they had not looked dangerous. Police are investigating the matter. Meanwhile, a nine-year-old boy is also in hospital after being hit by ice which fell from the roof of his school in Mladá Vožice, central Bohemia.

A similar case to the one in Prague occurred in the Moravian town of Hranice in 2006, when a piece of ice fell from a roof into a baby’s pram. Police charged the owner of the building with responsibility for the incident, but she was later found not guilty by a court. Several people have been injured and a number of cars damaged by falling ice and blocks of snow in the Czech Republic in the last couple of days, following a thaw.

No more interest rate cuts, hints central bank head

The governor of the Czech National Bank has indicated that it will not introduce any further interest rate cuts. In an interview for Tuesday’s edition of the newspaper Mladá fronta Dnes, Zdeněk Tůma said he did not regard a drop below the current 1 percent interest rate – a record low – as realistic. Mr Tůma said it appeared the Czech economy had already hit bottom. His comments echoed recent statements by two other members of the board of the central bank.

Jan Palach remembered in Prague

Events have been held in Prague to commemorate the death of Jan Palach on January 19, 1969. Palach died three days after setting himself on fire on Wenceslas Square in protest at the public’s apathy in the wake of the Soviet-led invasion of the previous August. Students at Charles University’s Arts Faculty, where Palach himself was enrolled, laid flowers and candles by a plaque dedicated to him on the wall of the building. Meanwhile, Prague’s Aero cinema was set to screen a film in his honour.

Statistical Office: Czech population would fall by 1.8 million by 2050 without migration

The population of the Czech Republic could fall by 1.8 million by the year 2050 without migration, according to figures just released by the Czech Statistical Office. The country currently has a population of 10 million. The Czech Statistical Office says in a projection posted on its website that if people did not migrate from abroad and between particular regions of the country, all of the Czech Republic’s 14 regions would see falls in population of between 13 and 23 percent within 40 years.

Construction industry unlikely to see growth for two more years

The Czech construction industry is unlikely to see growth until 2012, according to estimates by Euroconstruct, an umbrella group for agencies conducting research in the construction field. In a new report, it predicts a fall of 0.3 percent in construction output in the Czech Republic this year, followed by stagnation in 2011. Output should grow by 3.1 percent in two years’ time, as most of Europe returns to growth.

430 Czechs could reach 100 this year

Some 430 people in the Czech Republic could reach the age of 100 this year, according to figures from the national social welfare agency quoted by the news website novinky.cz. Of the pensioners born in 1910, more than four fifths are women. There are 488 Czechs above the age of 100: 410 women and 78 men.

Fejk: Czech Center at Bohemian National Hall should be more open

The director of the Bohemian National Hall in New York says the city’s Czech Center, which is housed in the building, should become more open in the future. Petr Fejk, who since the start of the year has been in charge of the Czech state-owned building on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, told the Czech News Agency that he wanted the Czech Center to become a real cultural and information centre, where people would come regularly and without fear of entering. The Bohemian National Hall, which was built in the 1890s, was reopened in late 2008 after extensive renovation funded by the Czech Republic.

Ice warning issued

Forecasters have warned of ice on roads and streets around the Czech Republic between Tuesday night and Thursday morning. Snow is set to melt during the day only to turn to ice when it freezes again after dark.

Weather

The grey skies we’ve had recently are set to continue over the next few days. Temperatures should hover around freezing point.