Friday News Briefing

NEWS  

STRIKE The massive union-organized transport and transit strike that paralyzed much of the country Thursday also spurred a disappointing turnout at public protests in the capital city, the daily Právo reported. About 1,000 demonstrators turned out, well short of the 3,000 expected by union leaders. Workers, however, did shut down the Prague metro for the first time in history, while trams and buses ran at limited capacity. The most dramatic incident of the day saw protesters attempt to pelt Finance Minister Miroslav Kalousek with eggs.   

EXAM Just under 20 percent of high-school students have failed the mandatory exit exam, the Czech News Agency (ČTK) reported. This was the first year of a uniform nationwide exam, and controversial Education Minister Josef Dobeš was tasked withi implementing the new program, which cost the state some 680 million Kč. About 14.5 percent of students failed the  mathematics portion, 9 percent the foreign language section and 7.6 percent failed the Czech-language section.  

VONDRA A nonbinding vote in the Chamber of Deputies called for the resignation of Defense Minister Alexandr Vondra (Civic Democrats, ODS) over the so-called ProMoPro affair passed June 16, ČTK reported. Vondra has faced criticism over an untransparent overpriced contract that occurred under his watch during the 2009 EU presidency. The three coalition parties - ODS, TOP 09 and Public Affairs (VV) - did not participate in the vote, which was called by the opposition Social Democrats (ČSSD). The accusations against Vondra were first made public by a division of the Finance Ministry, sparking speculation that Finance Minister Miroslav Kalousek was pursuing the investigation for political reasons.    

BUSINESS

MORE STRIKE Taxi companies and hotels cashed in during the strike June 16 as metro service stopped completely and bus and tram links were limited, daily Mladá fronta dnes reported. Taxi companies in Prague reported being booked through the whole day of the strike. Hotels profited with an increase in bookings as employees reserved rooms closer to their place of work or to the airport.

STOCKS The Prague Stock Exchange was down significantly yesterday, with the headline index, the PX, down nearly 1 percent to close at 1, 214 points, according to news website Finanční noviny. The worst performance was seen from banks, with only mining company NWR and textile company Pegas Nonwovens posting growth. Analysts attribute the drop to continued concerns about Greece, whose economic woes have been dragging down shares in financial companies.

MEDIA A Senate proposal would change current regulation of public television channels to cap the amount time devoted to advertising on the channels. A maximum of 0.75 percent of airtime could be taken up by commercials on ČT1, and a limit of 0.5 percent would be set for the other public stations. Advertisements would not be allowed at all on ČT's website.  

WEATHER

Prague, Czech Republic June 17. Partly Cloudy. High: 20 C. Low: 14 C.