Loading...
The Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs has welcomed the ceasefire agreement between Israel and the Lebanese movement Hezbollah, and believes that it will become the basis for a long-term peace settlement in the region, the ministry announced on Wednesday in a press release. The ceasefire came into effect on Wednesday morning at 4 am local time (3 pm CET), after thirteen months of cross-border shelling and two months of open war.
According to Reuters, the agreement proposes that Israeli troops will withdraw from southern Lebanon within sixty days, while troops of the Lebanese army will be deployed there. Hezbollah will simultaneously move its forces away from the Israeli-Lebanese border and across the Litani River. US President Joe Biden told reporters that the agreement was "designed to be a permanent ceasefire".
Tuesday's fire in the historic and iconic building of the National Theatre in Prague caused damage estimated at ten million crowns, fire department spokesman Vojtěch Sosna told ČTK. The cause of the fire is still being investigated. According to earlier information, the fire broke out in the building's technical facilities and spread through a shaft that runs from the basement to the upper floors.
Thick smoke began to pour out from the historic building on Tuesday afternoon shortly before 3 pm. One person is reported to have inhaled smoke, but hospitalisation was not necessary. According to theatre director Jan Burian, the fire did not affect the auditorium or the stage, and the quick intervention of the fire service prevented incalculable damage.
The Mayors and Independents Party indicated their desire to discuss in government the creation of the position of a national coordinator for introducing the euro, according to ČTK. Christian Democrat ministers also acknowledged the possibility of a debate on the common European currency ahead of the cabinet meeting on Wednesday morning. However, they question whether it makes sense to create the position of coordinator less than a year before the next general election. The Christian Democrats support the introduction of the euro in Czechia, while representatives of the Civic Democrats, who are critical of the common European currency, did not comment on the issue before the government meeting.
The ruling coalition debated the possibility of introducing the euro at the beginning of this year and commissioned the National Economic Council of the Government and the Legislative Council of the Government to prepare analyses of the advantages, disadvantages and potential difficulties of joining the Eurozone. Minister for European Affairs Martin Dvořák previously stated that the cabinet would discuss the conclusions of the analyses by the end of November.
The central Labour Office will narrow down the list of branches it plans to close next year, the Czech Labour Ministry confirmed. Instead of the originally planned 83, it will only close about fifty for the time being. Labour offices in larger towns should remain in operation until post offices can take over some of their responsibilities, such as accepting applications for benefits. The move was made under pressure from the public and regional governments who protested against the fact that people who cannot file applications online would have to travel long distances to do so.
In October 2024, the National Office for Cyber and Information Security (NÚKIB) recorded forty-seven cyber incidents in Czechia, the most in one month since they began monitoring in August 2017, the office reported on its website. None of the incidents were in the category of ‘very significant’. The monthly average for the past year is over twenty incidents, with twenty-one in September.
Of the forty-seven cyber incidents recorded, three fell into the category of ‘significant’. In October, NÚKIB recorded the highest number of DDoS attacks in a single month, namely thirty, in which computers controlled by hackers put a server out of service by flooding it with queries. This method is one of the most frequently used types of attacks in the cyber war running parallel to the military conflict in Ukraine. According to the office, the majority of the DDoS attacks were committed by the pro-Russian hacker group NoName057(16).
A Czech military training instructor who was a member of the Czech Special Forces brigade training young recruits in Kenya is being prosecuted in Czechia in connection with an accident in which a young Kenyan recruit was shot and wounded during training, the news site Novinky.cz reported on Wednesday. The incident happened on October 22 and the Czech instructor is charged with causing grievous bodily harm due to negligence. The Czech Defense Ministry sent a military police team to Kenya to investigate the matter.
The weather tomorrow will be cloudy, occasionally partly cloudy during the day. Occasional rain in most areas, with showers in places during the day, and with gradual snowfall at altitudes above 600 m. Highest temperatures will be between 5 and 9°C.
Tom Gross campaigned for Roma rights and was active in the media in early 1990s Prague. However, the Englishman had had some remarkable experiences in the city even before joining the influx of young westerners to Czechoslovakia’s new democracy. These included covert deliveries to leading dissidents in the communist period – and evidently being in close proximity to some of the world’s most notorious terrorists. Gross, who is today a regular visitor to the Czech capital, shared his stories at our studios in Vinohrady.
“More funding, more soldiers and more active reserves” that was the message Czech army commanders sent to politicians and the public in connection with the growing threat of war. The army chief-of-staff said NATO’s new collective defense commitments would necessitate far-reaching changes in the Czech military.
Israel's recently appointed foreign minister, Gideon Saar, will visit Czechia on Thursday during his first official foreign trip. The Czech Republic supports the Jewish state in its fight against Hamas and Hezbollah with fewer reservations than other EU countries.
This e-mail is sent to you automatically according to the settings you chose. To change the settings, click here.
© 2024, Radio Prague International - the external service of Czech Radio, all rights reserved.
https://english.radio.cz, e-mail: english@radio.cz, Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Instagram
Loading...
Loading...
