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The newly established Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) held its first inaugural player draft this past Monday, where the six teams set to play in January 2024 selected their top player picks. Among them were Czech women who will head...

Traditional fishing has taken place in the waterways between Jindřichův Hradec, Tábor and České Budějovice for over a thousand years. This area is primarily where Czechia’s annual 20,000 tons of fish are caught, almost 90% of which are carp –...

The powerful narcotic fentanyl has had a devastating impact in the US, contributing to record overdose numbers. Just last week the first fentanyl-related deaths in Czechia were reported in the media. So should the authorities be worried about a...

Envirofest is the only festival in Czechia focusing on environmental issues and awareness – and it is organised not by professional ecologists, but by ordinary people who want to motivate others to lead a more sustainable way of life. Through...

A group of nine young people from mainly Eastern European states – including Georgia, Albania, Ukraine and Serbia – are currently in Czechia at the invitation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, under a scheme to establish ties with high-flyers...

A new exhibition marking the inclusion of Antonín Dvořák’s Archive on the UNESCO Memory of the World Register got underway this week. Among other thing, visitors to the Dvořák Museum in Prague will have a rare chance to see a manuscript of his...

51% of Czechs plan to spend their autumn holidays in the Czech Republic. This follows from a survey by the Institute of Tourism of the CzechTourism agency. According to him, people would like to take an average of 8 days off in autumn, which is...

Ice hockey players across Czechia are lacing up their skates for another season as the Extraliga returns. But who are the favourites to take the top flight title in 2023–2024? And how do hockey games here compare to, for instance, in the NHL? I...

Czechia has the third lowest share of university graduates in the European Union, after Italy and Romania, according to a recent study published by the OECD. Only 26.67 percent of Czech residents between the ages of 25 to 64 have a university...

Soon it will have been two years. Each day then I snorkelled in the Red Sea trying to see (and possibly also take a photo of) as many animals as possible. Every evening I wrote a note about what interested me the most. Hawksbill sea turtle, a...

The beautiful weather at the end of summer offers ideal conditions for visiting the Prague Zoo. In addition to the usual guided feedings, the Prague Zoo has also prepared a special program for the following Saturday and Sunday afternoons (i.e...

A three-day wine festival, or vinobraní, has just taken place in the Moravian town of Znojmo. Highlights included a “march of John of Luxembourg”, complete with fire show. Source

The annual Vinohradské vinobraní festival is taking place in Prague 3 this Friday and Saturday. The event, which has a curated theme each year, is celebrating the wines of Bohemia and Moravia, highlighting the rich wine making history in...

The Venus of Petřkovice, a statuette from the late Stone Age period believed to be 23,000 years old is currently being exhibited at the site where it was first discovered in the Ostrava district of Petřkovice 70 years ago. The unique item...

The government has earmarked major investment for Terezín, site of the Czech lands’ biggest WWII Jewish ghetto, and Josefov, another 18th century garrison town. The project is based on two aims – preservation and development. Terezín, known as...

A delegation of the Czech Republic led by President Petr Pavl will take part on September 17-22 in the high-level week within the 78th session of the UN General Assembly in New York. Minister of Foreign Affairs Jan Lipavský will also be a...

Vašo Patejdl, who recently passed away at the age of 68, was a leading Slovak singer, keyboardist and songwriter. He co-founded the legendary Slovak group Elán and is considered to be one Czechoslovakia’s biggest hit-makers. In today’s edition...

The Czech Parliament has approved a bill which would allow additional voluntary overtime for workers in the healthcare sector of up to 1000 hours per year. The decision has provoked an outcry from doctors, with some threatening to stop working...

Writer Milan Kundera was one of the most famous sons of the South Moravian regional capital. Best known for his novels weaving intricate tales of love, politics, and exile, Kundera has been celebrated throughout his career for his unique...

Set up by eager but wholly inexperienced young music fans, Prague’s Radio 1 was the first non-state station in Czechoslovakia after the fall of communism. Decades later, the story of the station – which is still going strong – is the subject of...

Museum Kampa, an institution best-known for the works of František Kupka and other leading Czech modern artists, first opened its doors in 2003. Britain’s Guardian has ranked Museum Kampa among the top 10 best little-known museums in Europe...

The case of Leopold Hilsner, a Jewish vagrant convicted in 1899 for the ritual murder of a Christian girl, may be on the path to re-examination. It is the first time since 1900 that a review of the case has been ordered in an effort to reopen...

A new survey from Eurostat indicates that no fewer than 48 percent of Czechs do not eat a single serving of fruits or vegetables every day. What does this mean for individuals – and for the country’s health care system? I discussed the...

Dublin City Council has launched a new augmented reality map that allows users to access a virtual map of the city on their mobile device. The feature can be accessed via the existing Dublin Discovery Trails app. ‘DiscovAR Dublin’ is hailed as...

In the first half of this year, diesel vehicles made up a larger proportion of new cars sold in Czechia than in any other EU country. While in the rest of the EU, sales of diesel cars have been steeply declining over the past few years, in...

Covid-19 has been back in the news cycle in recent weeks, with cases on the rise across the world. On Monday, Health Minister Vlastimil Válek urged Czechs to get their Covid booster and flu vaccines, with priority being given to those in...

This coming Saturday, Prague’s Olšany Cemetery will be hosting a somewhat unusual one-day music festival called Mezi hroby or Between the Graves. The aim of the event is to raise money for the restoration of neglected graves that have a special...

The film ‘Brothers’, a retelling of the Cold War story of the controversial Mašín brothers, has been selected by the Czech Film and Television Academy as the Czech Oscar nominee for 2024. Written by top Czech screenwriter Marek Epstein, the...

New official data shows that one in 10 babies being born here in Czechia have a non-Czech mother. This shift in demographics points to the increasing role that immigration is playing in shaping the population. I spoke to Michaela Němečková, who...

After dropping for three consecutive years, the number of suicides in Czechia increased in 2022. Over 1,300 Czechs took their own life last year and the increase was most significant in younger age groups. I discussed the alarming development...

Prime Minister Petr Fiala has just launched a plan he says will help modernize the Czech economy in key fields – and make the country a European hub within the next 10 years. But what are the chances of his Restart Czechia programme actually...

The head of the Office of the President of the Republic, Jana Vohralíková, decided to split the position of press spokesperson for the President of the Republic and director of the Department of Communications into two separate positions. The...

The President of the Republic, Petr Pavel, distributed the unused funds for the election campaign between social, health, and other public benefit organizations. Among a total of seven organizations based primarily in structurally affected...

Prague Sounds is hosting a special concert at Vladislav Hall at Prague Castle in collaboration with the Prague Philharmonia, Czech Philharmonic, and Kyiv Symphony Orchestra – as well as the Prague Philharmonic Choir this Sunday. The music to be...

Czechia holds the unusual distinction of having the most organs per capita in the world, with about 10,000 of them to the country’s roughly 10 million inhabitants, meaning there is one organ per 1,000 people. This edition of our Sunday music...

Scientists in Czechia have discovered a new species of mammal. The greater white-toothed shrew migrated to the country from North Africa and has become the 90th mammal species recorded in Czechia. Scientists say it was most likely driven to...

After years of legal disputes, the City of Prague and the descendants of Art Nouveau painter Alfons Mucha have finally reached agreement over ownership rights to Mucha’s famous Slav Epic. The two sides have agreed to cooperate in creating a...

Just a few minutes away from Charles Bridge, overlooking the picturesque Old Town square, lies GOMA, or the “Gallery of Modern Art ” as it calls itself in English. Having just opened earlier this year, it has bold plans to become a “living...

Next Saturday, Sparta Prague will take on city rivals Slavia Prague in the women’s edition of the most fiercely contested derby in Czech football. In goal for the hosts will be 24-year-old Sydney Schneider, who just weeks ago was at the Women’s...

Wife of the President of the Republic, Eva Pavlova started the new school year at Jindřichov Elementary School and Kindergarten. She welcomed the first-graders, to whom she presented a children’s book “From the Diary of the Blue...

At the invitation of President Olena Zelenská’s wife, Eva Pavlova attended the third summit of first ladies and gentlemen in Kyiv on Wednesday, September 6, 2023. Diana Nausediene, the first lady of Lithuania, Ales Musar, the first...

A fierce battle is expected in the lower house this week over a government-proposed austerity package aimed at reducing the steep deficit in public finances. A recent poll by Generali Investments indicated that 81 percent of Czech citizens are...

We’ve heard of electric vehicles, but how about hydrogen powered cars? A group of five students from the Prague British International School are taking their design to Las Vegas to compete in a grand prix race with cars from over 20 countries...

Czech highways and first-class roads are dotted with illegal billboards. For over twenty years now the authorities have been engaged in a cat and mouse game with their owners who frequently move them from place to place. A new amendment to the...

One of the founding fathers of the nation, a pillar of Czechoslovak diplomacy and statehood, Edvard Beneš was destined to serve his country as president in the most turbulent years of the 20th century. Edvard Beneš was one of the co-founders of...

A new programme at Prague’s Charles University is to give students credits for training with the Active Reserve, the Czech Army’s equivalent of the National Guard in the US. What is the idea behind the scheme? And doesn’t it represent a certain...

An international 10km race, bringing together runners of all performance levels and offering a unique atmosphere, was held in central Prague at twilight on Saturday. Source: ČTK

Today it is twelve months since a Central American Mexican carp cub was born at the Prague Zoo. The little primate, who was later named Tiko, thrives and spends days in front of visitors on the Monkey Islands. At the same time, it is one of the...

The Svatá Hora Basilica near Příbram, 60 km south-west of Prague, is one of the most famous Roman Catholic pilgrimage sites in Czechia. The early Baroque complex was built on a site where miracles attributed to the Virgin Mary are said to have...

At the moment, there is no limit in Czechia to the amount of times somebody can donate their egg and sperm cells for assisted reproduction. But the government wants to change that with a centralised register of donors that they hope will stop...

Nestled just off of the Jiřího z Poděbrad square in Vinohrady is the newly opened Chi Xiao Mian restaurant, where owner Gong Xuewen brings a taste of her hometown’s unique cuisine to residents and visitors of Prague. Her mission: to break down...

Radegast has designed and created their first environmentally friendly lager, a limited edition brew called “Futur”. Radegast brewery has developed a new beer that is made using EWA technology, which can extract water out of...

In Prague on August 29, 2023,at the invitation of the President of the Republic, Petr Pavel, the President of the Republic of North Macedonia Stevo Pendarovski and his wife Elizabeta Gjorgievska, came to the Czech Republic for an official visit...

According to him, the security of the Czech Republic has three prerequisites: relations with its neighbors, membership in the EU and NATO, and a prosperous Ukraine On August 29, 2023 the President of the Republic Petr Pavel received the heads...

The Ukrainian foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, paid a brief working visit to Prague on Monday for talks on further Czech assistance to Ukraine, the abduction of Ukrainian children to Russia and preparations for the third Crimea Platform Summit...

The Czech government has decided in favour of regulating, rather than banning, the sale of kratom, CBD or HHC products. A proposed bill to that effect would create a new legal category of “psychomodulating substances” which would be...

The Centre for Metropolitan Planning (CAMP) in Prague is hosting their first annual Archirun, an event spotlighting the iconic architectural work of Karel Prager who was born 100 years ago. The run will take joggers on a tour across the city...

The Czech band Sto Zvířat has been on the scene for over thirty years. Last week it lost its frontman and co-founder Jan Kalina. The Czech band Sto Zvirat (Hundred Animals) was founded in 1990 soon after the fall of communism in Czechoslovakia...

Police statistics indicate a year-on-year increase in reported cases of domestic and sexual violence in Czechia. The police registered 430 cases of domestic violence last year, while this year, there were 274 cases in the first six months alone...

One of Czechia’s most important Roma leaders, Karel Holomek, has died at the age of 86. An activist, politician and journalist, Mr. Holomek was involved in the foundation of the national Museum of Romani Culture and numerous other key...

In Prague on August 31 The wife of the President of the Republic organized a round table at Prague Castle dedicated to the capacity and personnel problems of providing primary care for children and adolescents in the Czech Republic. Eva Pavlová...

Addressing a meeting of Czech diplomats at Czernin Palace, Prime Minister Petr Fiala highlighted Russia’s imperialist policy as the foremost security concern facing the Czech Republic and the democratic world. He said Russian attempts to...

Between a third to a half of all art works for sale in Czechia could be fakes, according to the Art Report 2023. The report, which surveys the main actors in the Czech art world, including collectors, dealers, and experts, found that forgeries...

Excessively high food costs have been driving many Czechs to do their shopping across the border in Poland or Germany. Reacting to the high profits posted by agricultural companies, Prime Minister Petr Fiala said he is glad the price of basic...

The Wallenstein Garden will host an outdoor concert Wednesday evening, with music being performed by the Prague Symphony Orchestra and directed by Czech conductor Jan Kučera. The show will present classical music and also the soundtracks of...

Visitors to the Crystal Valley Week glass festival, taking place in Liberec this week, were wowed by the sound of an exotic-looking musical instrument that few people could put a name to. It was a Celtic carnyx made of glass, specially produced...

When Roman Posolda set up his Bikes for Africa project in Ostrava in 2012, he had no idea how well it would take root in this country and how long it would run for. More than a decade later, the organization is still going strong, attracting...

Anglo American University kicked off the 2023-24 school year with its second annual Community Day on Wednesday, inviting students, staff, faculty, and alumni to greet each other and cultivate meaningful relationships. The theme of this...

Animals and visitors at the Prague Zoo could enjoy literally icy refreshments today. More than six tons of ice cubes cooled the exhibits and also the visitor areas, which was especially welcomed by the children. For Indian elephants, North...

Pens, erasers, pencil cases and backpacks – all these items for school children have seen a significant price hike this year as parents prepare their children to return to the classroom in September. New data reveals that it will cost...

This Saturday, the Summer Shakespeare Festival will be concluding in Prague, with a special performance of Romeo and Juliet in English. The performance will take place in the courtyard of the Liechtenstein Palace in Prague’s Malá Strana...

The Enjoy Respect Prague campaign that launched last year aims to encourage tourists to behave with more respect towards the city and its local residents, for example by supporting local businesses rather than buying tacky souvenirs, using...

August 21 marks the 55th anniversary of the invasion of Czechoslovakia by Soviet-led Warsaw Pact troops. The crushing of the Prague Spring dashed people’s hopes of democracy and ushered in a long period of political and moral decline. More than...

Folk architecture is one of the cornerstones of regional and national identity, but it is rapidly disappearing. That is why ethnologists from the National Museum and Czech Academy of Sciences worked together with IT specialists from the Czech...

Czechia’s Karolína Muchová lost to Coco Gauff in the Western & Southern Open yesterday in Cincinnati. The final match score was 6-3, 6-4. Despite the loss, Muchová managed to crack the Top 10 ranking. It was a tough loss for Muchová since...

Letna park is the second largest green space in the heart of the city, and there is something for every kind of visitor that the park has to offer. Skaters can shred by the metronome, children can play in the playgrounds, and friends can gather...

Hollywood film and TV productions have been on hold since the SAG-AFTRA actors’ union went on strike in July, two months after a similar move by the Writers Guild of America. Many international productions shoot in Czechia, so the shutdowns are...

New numbers are revealing that Czechia is home to one of the most expensive real estate markets in Europe – it would take 13 gross annual salaries to purchase property in the country. This year, Czechia is falling behind Slovakia, the...

A new program being launched by the Ministry of Industry is hoping to attract more highly skilled workers to Czechia, but they don’t necessarily need an employment contract from a Czech company to lock down a visa. We spoke to Lucia Legáthová...

As Soviet tanks rolled into Czechoslovakia on the night from 20 to 21 August 1968, Czechoslovak Radio played an important role in keeping people informed of what was happening. The radio building was an immediate focus for the invaders, but...

If you live in Czechia and are planning to get your bathroom or kitchen remodelled this year, you may just be out of luck. Companies and online portals offering the services of tradesmen are reporting a significant increase in demand...

Helene Ritchie spent many years as a politician in her home city of Wellington, New Zealand. She has just written a book telling the moving story of her search for her family’s past. In 1945, Helene’s mother Lidi Hess, received a letter from a...

I swam to that small coral reef almost every morning, but even after more than a week of my stay at the Red Sea I hadn’t made friends with its inhabitants. Dark, about ten-centimetre-long fish that shared it, didn’t show any intention to build...

Fifty-five years ago, on the night of August 20-21, 1968, the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia began, marking a definitive end to the hopes that the series of liberalising and democratic reforms that had taken place in the country in the...

A few months ago for an article in our magazine about Argentinian wine: Salud! World-class wines from Argentina I met Rodrigo Schmidt (a co-founder and co-owner of Productos Latinos, a company focusing on importing and selling wines from many...

Shooting began in Prague in 1983 on one of the most famous movies ever made in the city, Miloš Forman’s Amadeus, which later earned eight Oscars. Forman’s extremely successful film was based on a stage play by Peter Shaffer, who also wrote the...

Czech politicians have moved to quell anti-Ukrainian sentiment in the wake of two violent attacks against Czech women, which were reportedly committed by Ukrainian youths. President Pavel has warned against applying the principle of collective...

Prague was recently featured on the New York Times travel guide 36 Hours – where journalists give their best recommendations for local gems and places that tourists may not find in their guide book. I caught up with writer Evan Rail to talk...

Jan Hocek is an enthusiastic traveller, tourist guide and columnist, who has completed some of the world’s most challenging trails. In 2020, he created a comprehensive network of long-distance tourist and pilgrimage routes leading through the...

Petrin is one of the most popular parks in the city of Prague, attracting both locals and tourists. From the Petrin tower, to the beautiful fruit orchards, there is something everyone can enjoy in one of the cities biggest green spaces. See the...

Prague’s metro A line passes under Prague’s iconic monuments, has a uniform design and vestibules featuring figures of Czech kings. No wonder one its stations, Staroměstská, was ranked by the CNN among the most beautiful metro stops in Europe...

The 20th annual festival of new circus and theatre Letní Letná opened in Prague on Wednesday night with a breathtaking water show. The festival offers over 100 performances in its jubilee year. “Awesome, fascinating, incredible”...

The Krkonoše Mountains are a beloved spot in Czechia, but recently, they have become the focal point of growing concern amongst environmental scientists. Movement in the tree line boundary of the mountains is threatening the existence of other...

After 16 NHL seasons with the Boston Bruins, Czech-born David Krejčí announced his retirement from the National Hockey League on Monday. Krejčí played all 16 seasons of his professional hockey career with the Boston Bruins, developing a...

The news site Seznam Zpravy has questioned the moral integrity of one of the most successful managers in the health sector, the head of the prestigious Institute of Clinical and Experimental Medicine (IKEM) in Prague, suggesting that he had...

Prague has long been one of the most popular tourist destinations in Europe, ranking in the top 10 of capital cities by visitor numbers and beating other well-known cities such as Vienna, Berlin and Venice, despite its relatively small size...

No sooner was Robert Fremr nominated as one of three new constitutional judges when accusations began to surface about sentences he handed out pre-1989. Now he has made the decision to step down, although he had already been approved by the...

Czech women remain conspicuously absent from most seats of power in Czechia. The country has never had a female PM or president and NGOs have repeatedly highlighted the lack of women’s representation in national politics. Moreover, female...

After several months of intensive preparations, on Monday 14 August Czechia submitted Basic Design Plan as necessary document before applying for Temporary Building Permit to the Osaka Authorities. This makes Czechia the second country, after...

The Dvořák music festival is a popular annual event, but this year’s 67th edition brings an exciting new twist to the tradition – it takes place on a boat on the Vltava River. Visitors can listen to the music of Dvořák while blissfully floating...