Czech morning news in brief: Top stories for Dec. 17, 2020

The Czech state will pay monthly child maintenance with a maximum of 3,000 crowns for up to two years instead of the parent who does not do so under a bill approved by the Senate.

The bill is yet to be signed by President Milos Zeman into law. It is to take effect as of July 2021, with the aim to force the defaulter to pay the debt.

The state is to spend about one billion crowns per year on these payments of child maintenance.

Czech police are planning to perform road checks in border areas and also checks directly in ski resorts after they open as of Friday as part of anti-epidemic measures.

Interior Minister and Central Crisis Staff (UKS) head Jan Hamacek and Police President Jan Svejdar told journalists that foreign skiers will have to submit a negative COVID test.

The PES system goes back into tier four at the end of this week with entry to the Czech Republic only allowed in urgent cases, however, visitors to ski resorts are exempted from this rule, but are required to have a negative test for coronavirus.

The right to possess arms will be explicitly guaranteed by law with the ten-year validity of firearms licences preserved in the Czech Republic under an amendment passed by the Senate.

The amendment also introduces new categories of arms to meet a controversial EU arms directive.

The bill will be submitted to the President for his signature. The full story is available here.

The fall in interest rates on mortgages has continued, with the average interest rate falling below 2%. The mortgage market has become more affordable for the eighth month in a row, with data now available for November. The current rate is the lowest since March 2017. Read more here.

The US Ambassador will leave the Czech Republic in January after Joe Biden's election victory was confirmed in the electoral college. 

In an interview, Stephen King confirmed that he would leave office no later than Jan. 20 when Joe Biden will enter the White House. King is the political nominee of President Donald Trump.

He described his work in the Czech Republic as an ambassador as "the greatest honor of his life". See the full story here.

Prague City Council has approved the spending of one million crowns to cover the increased costs of operating a food bank since the COVID crisis hit. The proposed amount must be approved by the City Council. of the City of Prague, which meets later.

Meanwhile, the Mayor's Advent Food Collection will take place today, on Mariánské náměstí in front of the New Town Hall building. People can donate items such as rice, pasta, sugar, oil, canned food, and also baby diapers, toiletries, or drugstore goods.