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PanoramaYoung Czech journalist receives European award for article on Mongolian guest workers
On Thursday evening the young journalist Jan Gebert received an award
from the European Commission’s “For Diversity. Against
Discrimination” campaign. The Czech national prize is for a piece he
wrote for the magazine Reflex about Mongolian factory workers in a small
town in Moravia. Though the article was published last year, the subject
is
topical, with the problems posed by rising unemployment among foreign
workers making headlines
recently. More
Current AffairsCzech authorities considering scheme to pay laid-off immigrant workers to return home
Rising unemployment spells bad news for the hundreds of thousands of
non-nationals working in the Czech Republic. Things are especially
difficult for workers from outside the European Union, who when they lose a
job also quickly lose their legal status. Now the Czech authorities are
preparing a system under which such workers could be given a flight ticket
– and a cash incentive – to return to their countries of origin.
More
Current AffairsEU ministers in Moravian spa town to discuss labour market reforms
The EU's Labour and Social Affairs ministers have been meeting in the
Moravian spa town of Luhačovice to discuss further liberalisation of
Europe's labour market. That continues to be something of a thorny issue,
as citizens from the 10 countries that joined in 2004 - including the Czech
Republic - still can't work everywhere in the EU. The meeting, chaired by
Czech minister Petr Nečas, is aimed at persuading those countries that
still restrict their labour markets - chiefly Germany and Austria - to lift
those restrictions sooner rather than later. Rob Cameron is in Luhačovice
– and has more:
More
Current AffairsPolice officers face trial after death of Vietnamese man in custody
Interior Minister Ivan Langer has condemned the actions of three police
officers being prosecuted over the death of a Vietnamese man in their
custody. The man was arrested and detained after a routine complaint over
noise, but died after being beaten in police custody.
More
Business NewsBusiness News
In Business News this week: with Czech industrial output falling by 17.4
percent, the vice-governor of the central bank says growth this year could
slow to as low as 0.5 percent; over two thirds of Czech firms say they are
finding it harder to get bank loans; the number of foreigners joining the
Czech workforce falls by 20 percent; the head of IKEA says the firm will
open two new stores in the Czech Republic, including one of its biggest in
Europe; and more Czech banks are to introduce smart ATMs.
More
Current AffairsCitizens of twelve countries eligible for Czech green cards
In just a few days, it will be easier for foreigners to come to work in the
Czech Republic – or at least for some of them. Czech authorities have
issued a list of 12 countries whose citizens will be eligible for the
Czech
green card which combines work and residence permits. Most Czech employers
welcome the new provision as they hope it will make the Czech labour
market
more accessible. But the choice of the countries included on the Green
card
list has raised eyebrows. More
Letter from PragueRevelations on a night train
I recently went on a visit to the very easternmost reaches of Slovakia, not
for the first time in all of my years of Czech and Slovak endeavour. But
this was the first visit I’d made after having come to live in Prague.
And there were a few surprises in store…
More
Business NewsBusiness News
In this week's Business News: the Czech Central Bank slashes interest rates
by three-quarters of a percentage point, while downscaling its GDP growth
forecast again; the majority French-owned Czech bank Komerční Banka has
posted profits of 9.94 billion crowns for the first nine months of 2008; a
new survey suggests that Czechs are likely to spend significantly less
during the Christmas period than last year; the Czech government is seeking
to write-off the majority of a nearly one billion crown debt owed by Russia
since the Soviet era and Czechs and Poles are increasingly losing interest
in working in Britain.
More
Current AffairsLong election night for Americans in Prague
The whole world was watching on Tuesday night as American voters cast their
ballots in one of the most heated US presidential campaigns – including
Prague’s American expat community. Several election night parties were
held around the city where supporters of both camps stayed up all night,
awaiting the results.
More
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