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A hospital bed manufactured by Czech company Linet has made a striking appearance in the popular US television series House of Cards, when it was used by Kevin Spacey in the role of the US president Frank Underwood.

Czech energy group EPH teamed up with PPF Investments, the vehicle of the Czech Republic’s richest man, Petr Kellner, is said to be on the verge of another major acquisition, this time in Germany. The deal is focused on brown coal assets but that fits in well with the Czech company EPH’s existing activities.

It’s no secret that the toolboxes of central banks are looking a bit empty these days. In the old days when economies were always on the up they could tinker with the interest rates and that was indeed their main job. With interest rates at around zero long term, the central bankers are clearly stymied and looking for other tools.

A total bill for 33 billion crowns, that’s the estimate put on the costs of a crash of the hard coal mining company OKD.

March saw the highest ever number of new car sales in one month in the Czech Republic, according to figures just issued by the country’s Car Importers Association. Almost 23,000 new vehicles were registered last month, a rise of 8 percent on the same period in 2015.

The Czech film industry is currently enjoying something of a renaissance. Last year, cinema operators sold nearly 13 million tickets, which is the highest number since 2010, when the figure reached over 13.5 million. Sales reached a record 1.67 billion crowns. With over 600 cinemas, the Czech Republic boasts one of the densest networks of cinemas per person in Europe.

The budget surplus for the first quarter of this year was the highest in the history of the Czech Republic, reaching CZK 44 billion, according to figures released by the Ministry of Finance. The result has been attributed to a growth in tax revenues and transfers from the European Union.

Slovakia has become the most popular tourist destination for Czech tourists, overtaking Croatia. Some 837 thousand Czechs travelled to the neighbouring country in 2015 – rising by nearly three-quarters compared to the previous year, according to data released by the Czech Statistical Office this week.

Czech ski hill operators are ruing the poor winter season this year, ranking it among the four worst over the last two decades, daily Lidové noviny writes. The season got off not only to a late start this year but some ski areas saw fewer foreign visitors than expected, namely from neighbouring Poland.

Czech Airlines has sealed a deal which means a large part of its future fleet will be leased and not owned. The financial burden of honouring an eight-year-old agreement to buy aircraft was untenable for the recovering, but still fragile, carrier.