News Top court strikes down legislation denying tax breaks to working pensioners
The Czech Constitutional Court has struck down legislation that denies tax breaks of some 25,000 crowns to working pensioners. Acting on a motion filed by a group of senators, the court said the legislation created inequality by only denying tax breaks to people who were receiving pensions on January 1 of the given year but not to others who began receiving pensions on any other day. The legislation was introduced in 2013 as part of the then centre-right government’s austerity measures. However, the lower house of Parliament is set to vote on a bill that would re-introduce tax breaks for working pensioners regardless of the Constitutional Court’s verdict.
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Prague's Main Train Station arrival hall to undergo reconstruction
The arrival hall of Prague's Main Train Station is set to undergo an extensive reconstruction, which is to start on Monday. The work will involve a complete replacement of glass panes and painting of the steel construction. Some 15 railway lines replaced by buses or redirected to Prague's Masaryk Station. The reconstruction, which is estimated to cost around five billion crowns, should be completed by May 2017.
Car thefts in the Czech Republic continue to drop
The number of car thefts in the Czech Republic has gone down by a third over the past ten years, the Czech television reported on Sunday. According to the police statistics, some 8,700 cars were stolen last year, which is half as much as in 2008. The most often stolen car brand is Volkswagen, namely Škoda Octavia, which amounts to five percent of all the vehicles stolen. David Schön, spokesman for the police presidium, says police have been more succesul in uncovering car-stealing gangs. He also said people have been securing their cars better than in the past.
Czech Airlines introduce wage cut of up to 40 percent
The Czech national carrier Czech Airlines has lowered their staff's salaries by around 40 percent as of Sunday, introducing new cost-saving measures. According to the Czech Airline unions, the drop in wages is higher than it was previously agreed. The airline in October agreed on a wage cut of around a third and 180 redundancies. The trade unions representing the company's pilots and stewards have already filed a complaint over the new collective agreement and are considering the option to strike.
Police search for missing girl from Prague
Police are searching for a 13-year old girl from a village on the outskirts of Prague, who has been missing since Saturday. The teen, called Lucie Lorenzová, left home on Saturday afternoon to visit her grandmother in Prague, but failed to get there by the evening. A goodbye letter has been found among her thigs at home. Investigators are asking the public to share any information about the missing girl.
More than 2,000 visitors attend carnival in Hlinsko
A record number of visitors on Saturday came to see the carnival at the open-air museum at Veselý Kopec, near Hlinsko in eastern Bohemia. More than 2,000 people watched a group of young men from a village called Vortová, performing a procession with masks. The centuries-old folk tradition, which remained intact in several communities in the area, was added to the UNESCO list of world heritage in 2010.
Do-over local elections take place in Bílina and Chomutov
People from the north Bohemian municipalities of Bílina and Chomutov are casting their ballot in a fresh round of municipal election, after a regional court cancelled the previous election results due to fraud. Several people from the region have already been charged with vote buying. Police and members of anti-corruption initiatives are overseeing the voting. The voter turnout has been very low so far. Local elections also take place in 13 municipalities, which didn't have enough candidates in October.
Czech woman dies in bus crash in Slovakia
Two women, one of them Czech, were killed and 24 injured in a bus crash in Slovakia in the early hours of Saturday. The accident happened on the D1 motorway near the village of Spišský Štvrtok in the Levoča district in eastern Slovakia. The regular coach bus, heading from Prague to Uzghorod in Ukraine, swerved off the snow covered road and hit a utility pole. The cause of the incident is being investigated but it is likely that it was caused by the driver, who was going too fast for the conditions.
Dozens take part in cold water race in Vltava river
Dozens of cold water enthusiasts have taken part in the traditional winter swim in the Vltava river in Prague's district of Braník. Altogether 192 swimmers from the Czech Repulic and abroad took pluge in the icy river on Saturday as part of the annual Branické ledy competition, which is now in its 13th year. The absolute winner of the event is Czech Rostislav Vítek, who covered the longest, nine-kilometre track, in nine minutes and fifteen seconds.
Some 400 people attend anti-Islamic gathering in Prague
Some 400 people are attending a protest against Islam at Prague's Old Town Square on Saturday, organized by the group We Do Not Want Islam in the Czech Republic. After the gathering, the protesters are set to march to the seat of the Interior Ministry at Prague's Letná. Among those who attended the protest were a number of politicians, including Tomio Okamura, leader of the controversial Dawn Party, and Jana Volfová, head of the non-parliamentary Czech Suverenity movement. Around forty people have also attended the gathering in support of the minorities.
Trust in president up in January
According to a survey conducted by the CVVM polling agency, public trust in president Miloš Zeman has gone up in January. Some 44 percent of people who took part in the poll said they trusted the president, which is an increase by ten percent compared to the previous month. The president's trust rating took a dive last October following a series of controversial moves by Mr Zeman, including his use of vulgar language in a radio interview. President Zeman had the trust of 61 percent of Czechs when he took office in March of 2013.
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