AuthorMartin Hladík

Photo: Miroslav Chaloupka, ČTK

The small town Město Touškov in Western Bohemia held its fifth annual festival of bread at the weekend. In addition to baking bread in the parish oven, the program included a presentation of a hospice project and a small farmers’ market. Baker Roman Sebera (pictured) prepared buns for visitors in a very old school kitchen.

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The aardvark female Pieta today. Photo Miroslav Bobek

I preferred not to talk too much about it, not to jinx it and waited patiently until Saturday. Then I went to congratulate Pieta with a handful of mealworms.

Pieta is our aardvark female. Last Saturday, on September 16, 2023, she reached age of 32 years and 28 days! Already in the last more than a quarter of a year she was the oldest living aardvark not only in Europe, but in the entire world. And now she has broken the historical record! No other aardvark has ever been documented to be older!

Pieta took over the imaginary sceptre of the oldest living aardvark at the beginning of this June from the male Afer, who died in Colchester Zoo in England at the age of 32 years and 27 days. And last Saturday she also surpassed him in overall age. By the way, both – Pieta and Afer – were sired by the same father. Theoretically, the female from Crandon Park Zoo in Miami could compete with these two long-lived aardvark siblings, she was thought to be over thirty years old, but she originated from the wild and only 26 years of her life were documented. In short, Pieta is an indisputable record holder!

Pieta came to our zoo from her native zoo in Arnhem in the Netherlands in 2004. She was already an experienced mother, who had raised four young, among them surprisingly also twins, the females Poq and Puq. When she arrived in Prague, she was pregnant again and she gave birth here to her last young, the female Danny. Her then keeper Lenka Vrabcová recalls how Pieta took excellent care of her young. She also liked digging in the bark in the backyard behind the African House and often tried to climb out of it using huge stones. Taking her off them must have been an unenviable task…

In 2014 we moved Pieta to quarters in the back lot. The company of two younger and much more active aardvarks in African House – Kvída and Draco – didn’t do her good and Pieta suffered from health issues. However, she is satisfied in her “retirement retreat” and keeps in great shape for her age. Let’s wish her as many golden years as possible!

Czech scientists, together with a small experimental brewer, have come up with the country’s first “Celtic beer”. Called TauriALE, the recreation of the ancient alcoholic beverage was achieved using laboratory analysis of pollen from an early Celtic burial site in Moravia.

In 2020 and 2021, scientists from Charles University in Prague and Palacký University in Olomouc made excavations at the well-known archaeological site of Býčí Skála in the Moravian Karst, which dates back to the Early Iron Age.

The site was discovered back in 1867 and is one of the most important cult and burial centres of the Hallstatt people – the early Celtic inhabitants of central Europe.

The aim of the excavations was to collect samples of the soil for detailed laboratory analysis, says Zuzana Golec Mírová, one of the members of the team:

“We discovered the remains of burial chambers, which were quite common in the Hallstat period and inside those chambers there was soil, as well as organic and botanical remains. We took samples for chemical analysis, but also for pollen analysis, which turned out to be crucial.”

The analysis of the pollen, carried out by the Brno Botanical Institute, has revealed traces of millet and various herbs in the samples, which are ingredients that were commonly used by Celts to make beer.

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Author: Ruth Fraňková

Photo: National Museum in Prague

Czech Egyptologists working between the pyramid fields of Abusir and Saqqara have announced a major discovery. They have located and explored a lost tomb that belonged to an ancient Egyptian official called Ptahshepses, who lived during the 24th and 25th centuries BC.

The tomb of the ancient Egyptian dignitary Ptahshepses was discovered and partially exposed by a French scholar Auguste Mariette almost 160 years ago.

However, not long after the discovery, the mastaba, a rectangular tomb with a flat roof, disappeared again under the sands of the Western Desert, says Renata Landgráfová, head of the Czech Institute of Egyptology:

“It appears that Mariette didn’t explore the tomb fully. Either he didn’t get to the burial chamber or he simply ignored what was in there, because we found a mummy preserved in its entirety.

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Author: Ruth Fraňková

Reserve Dja is the largest pavilion in the Prague Zoo. The total area affected by the construction is 12,637 m2. However, thanks to the considerate architectural solution, it does not disturb the landscape character of the surroundings. Photo by Miroslav Bobek, Prague Zoo

The results of the Green Roof competition, which has a ten-year tradition, were solemnly announced yesterday at the Great World of Technology in Ostrava-Vítkovice. The winner of the competition was the green roof on the new gorilla pavilion – the Dja Reserve – at the Prague Zoo.

During the evaluation, the judges focused on the overall plan and the quality of the architectural design and technical solutions, the sustainability of the project, but also the current state of the green roof. Regarding the victory of the roof at the Dja Reserve, they said that this pavilion “blends perfectly with the surrounding meadows with its organic shape and vegetation on the roof”.

“We are very happy about the award, because it confirms what we have been striving for,” said the director of the Prague Zoo, Miroslav Bobek. “Our goal was for the roof of the pavilion to connect with the steppe around the Sklenářka homestead, not only optically, but also ecologically. Thanks to the efforts of Mr. and Mrs. Chvostov, this plan was perfectly fulfilled and the roof is covered with autochthonous vegetation and has already been inhabited by a number of heat-loving invertebrates, often very rare.”

Reserve Dja is the largest pavilion in the Prague Zoo. The total area affected by the construction is 12,637 m2. However, thanks to the considerate architectural solution, it does not disturb the landscape character of the surroundings. Photo by Miroslav Bobek, Prague Zoo

A survey by entomologists on the spot discovered species classified as endangered in the Czech Republic. For example, the needle bluebird, which, according to experts, does not otherwise occupy roofs. Similarly surprising was the discovery for artificial biotopes of a rare species of sailing spider or common flower-loving spider.

“In addition to butterflies and spiders, ground squirrels also visit the roof, and with their digging they create space for reseeding plants from the wider area. This increases the biodiversity of the place and for us it is a confirmation that the roof is a real part of the ecosystem,” says Kateřina Chvostová, head of green design at the Prague Zoo, who accepted the award. “The implementation itself took three years, but the preparation was even longer. It was a real challenge and the result is exceptional,” she said.

The orientation of the roof offered two thematic units. A narrow strip along the visitor route connecting African-themed plantings and a larger area related to nearby native steppe habitats. Exotic species such as the African Pennisetum macrourum were planted in the all-area foundation of steppe species, established primarily by grasses of the genus Festuca and Stipa. On the other hand, the non-African part was enriched by the plantings of Dianthus carthusianorum or Scabiosa ochroleuca, grown in the program of the Department of the Environment, Hl. m. of Prague Regional Prague mixture.

“Green roofs help us improve the microclimate of the metropolis and at the same time reduce the so-called urban heat island effect. Our Prague zoo sets an example in adaptation measures to climate change, which I greatly appreciate and congratulate on the award,” says Deputy Mayor Mr. City of Prague for the environment and climate plan Jana Komrsková.

The “living” roof adorns the most modern and at the same time the largest pavilion in the Prague Zoo. The Dja Reserve welcomed its first visitors last September. In addition to the family group of lowland gorillas and other Central African animal species, the Prague Zoo presents to the public the long-term activities of the Prague Zoo to protect biodiversity in Cameroon.

Richard, who resides in the Méfou Center, i.e. in the old gorilla pavilion in the lower part of the zoo, is undoubtedly one of the most famous residents of the Prague Zoo. His mark in the history of local breeding is indelible, especially thanks to the paternity of all the cubs born so far. Photo by Oliver Le Que, Prague Zoo

On Saturday, September 23, the Prague Zoo will celebrate World Gorilla Day together with the 60th anniversary of the breeding of these largest primates in the world.

Visitors can look forward to an extraordinary program in both pavilions – in the Dja Reserve, which was opened last year and is inhabited by a family group, and also in the Méfou Center, where the famous Richard lives with his sons.

Every hour from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., a special commented meeting will take place at both locations. In addition, the keepers prepared a surprise for all the gorillas at 3 p.m.

Ten-year-old Duni – the daughter of the famous Moja – is currently pregnant. If all goes well, she will give birth to her first offspring at the end of this year. She too will receive a surprise from the breeders this Saturday at 3 p.m. Photo by Oliver Le Que, Prague Zoo

Program in the Dja Reservation

• The recycling of mobile phones makes sense and you can also help: the joint site of Remobil and the Prague Zoo will present the raw materials obtained from them.

• Forest rangers: Why are they important and what does their job consist of? You will find out all this at the tent of these eco guards in front of the pavilion!

• Meeting in Somalomo: Learn about the project to protect (not only) gorillas in Cameroon in an African school classroom inside the pavilion. Program at the Méfou Centre

• Titan was the first, or Get to know the gorilla personalities throughout the breeding history: Can you recognize the faces of the gorillas from the photos and determine which picture shows, for example, Ajabu, Moja, Kamba or Richard?

• Intelligence of gorillas: Gorillas are among the most intelligent animals and their inquisitiveness needs to be constantly developed in farms and care must be taken to ensure that they do not get bored. Breeders use various puzzles for this. Can you handle the puzzle as well as the gorilla, or maybe even better?

On Tuesday, September 12, the Olga Havlova Foundation Goodwill Run charity race took place for the fifth time in the Hvězda nature reserve in Prague 6. More than 500 male and female runners took part in it, thanks to which they managed to collect a record 658,800 crowns to help families in need.

A popular race for the general running public, it was held on 10 km, 5 km tracks for women and 4 x 2.5 km for relays, corporate relays and, for the first time, embassy relays. Juniors and children from the youngest to fifteen years old also had their races, who ran in five age categories of different lengths.

The participants of the event could have refreshments at the many stands of non-profit organizations and try the javelin throw with Olympian Irena Gillarová. The sports afternoon was enriched by the Spejbla and Hurvínek Theater and the construction of a jubilee mosaic of a tree made of LEGO® bricks. The smallest children could assemble from LEGO® DUPLO® bricks. There was also a LEGO® photo corner. Olga Havlová’s late 90th birthday was commemorated by the outdoor exhibition “Olga Havlová – First Lady of the Republic – Queen of Children”. A Song for Olga by the singer and composer Aneta Langerová was also performed, which during the 2023 anniversary year is sung by local singers and choirs at meetings at Olga Havel’s Trees throughout the Czech Republic.

Czech TV commentator Stanislav Bartůšek and gym teacher Jiří Doležal accompanied the sports afternoon. The patronage of the event was taken over by ultramarathoner Miloš Škorpil, javelin thrower Irena Gillarová and also fresh Wimbledon winner Markéta Vondroušová. The main race for adults was started by the director of the foundation, Monika Granja, and Jakub Stárek, the mayor of the Prague 6 municipality, who financially supported the race. Thanks also go to the ČEZ Foundation for financial support.

All proceeds from the entry fee will be donated by the Goodwill Committee – the Olga Havel Foundation to help families in need, i.e. families who have lost a roof over their heads, single-parent families or families with disabled children. Financial assistance will provide families at risk of losing their housing with temporary accommodation in replacement, asylum or crisis houses, where social workers help solve the living situation. A financial donation will also be received, for example, by a mother who is raising two small boys by herself, for the purchase of a medical pram for the younger Adamek. A three-year-old boy suffers from cerebral palsy with partial paralysis of the limbs on the right side of the body. The mother herself is struggling with a medical handicap.

Media partners: Czech Radio, Radio 1
Partners: MCAE, Bona Foundation, Sportega, Dino, Mizuno, Copy General, Volvo, Minet Elektro, Lidl, Salet, Pražské vodovody a kanalizace, Ochranný svaz authorský

Photo: David Hertl, Czech Radio

The northern town of Žatec and surrounding hop-growing landscape have just been granted UNESCO World Heritage status, becoming the 17th Czech entry on the list. Žatec is called Saaz in German and its distinctive Saaz hops are what have earned it this accolade. But what makes these hops so special? I spoke with the Prague-based US beer and travel writer Evan Rail.

“They’re just really high quality, in terms of the aroma and flavour, and they have been for about a thousand years. They’ve been prized around the world – especially around Europe – for their really delicate, gentle aroma.

“Hops can be quite strong, even overbearing, but they refer to this aroma of Saaz hops as really ‘noble’. There are only four, or arguably five, noble hop strains in the world, and Saaz is the king of them.”

Are most of these Saaz hops exported, or are they used here in Czechia?

“I actually don’t know the answer to that question. But I can tell you this: They are prized so much by people around the world that every year there’s a contingent of Japanese brewers, from some of the big Japanese brew houses, who come over and select their Saaz hops, right there in Žatec. They come and select them by what’s called ‘rubbing’ – they actually sense the aromas and decide which batch they want.

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Author: Ian Willoughby

Photo: Czech Technical University

Czech scientists have developed a small weather station for space. The gadget tracks streams of charged particles moving in space and the first is already in orbit.

Differently charged particles, which scientists call “space weather”, stream through space. They are described as “solar wind” or “electro-magnetic storms”. Most of them don’t reach Earth because it is protected by a magnetic “umbrella”. But on a spacecraft outside of the Earth’s magnetic field, the particles can do similar damage as lightning or hail on Earth and can be dangerous not only for astronauts, but also for the electronics on spaceships.

The “weather station”, or detector named Hardpix, is about the size of a tiny camera and fits in the palm of your hand. Milan Malich from the Institute of Theoretical and Experimental Physics at the Czech Technical University explains:

“Our goal was to develop a device that would be as compact as possible. The current version weighs around 150 grams. Most of that weight is the protective aluminum box, the electron itself is very light. It’s basically like the camera in your mobile, but this is designed to detect particles.”

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Authors: Daniela Lazarová, Martin Srb, Source:ČRo

Photo: Dalibor Glück, ČTK

The village of Ostrožská Lhota in the Zlín region has been named “Village of the Year” for 2023, ahead of Hrádek from Moravia-Silesia and Dolní Poustevna from the Ústí nad Labem region. The winner was announced this past weekend at a folk festival in the Moravian town of Luhačovice.

Representatives of Ostrožská Lhota, a picturesque south Moravian village at the foothills of the White Carpathians, popped the champagne as soon as the winner of the Village of the Year competition was announced, handing out home-made gingerbread cookies decorated with the town’s church and the inscription Ostrožská Lhota.

The annual Village of the Year competition has been organised by the Association for Rural Renewal along with the Agriculture and Regional Development ministries since 1995. Its main criterion is the quality of local projects that encourage the community spirit. This year, some 175 municipalities from Czechia’s 13 regions took part. The mayor of Ostrožská Lhota, Roman Tuháček, says the community spirit is indeed the main reason why his village earned the title for 2023:

“Ostrožská Lhota is a picturesque village located in a small valley, off the main roads. What makes it special is the wonderful community of local people who are organised in 23 different associations, and who are behind its busy cultural and social life.

“I think the title is proof that our village is a good place to live, because no matter how beautiful your village is, you cannot win this competition if there is no social life in it.”

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Author: Ruth Fraňková

Photo: Filip Jandourek, Czech Radio

Martin Tlapa will begin his new posting as Czech ambassador to Canada in Ottawa on September 25th. The agenda items he wishes to tackle during his posting range from boosting tourism and student movement between the two nations, driving further business development amongst Czech and Canadian firms, and working closely to build strong connections with the Czech community across Canada. We caught up with him about these agenda items when he was back in Prague this past August.

“I am very happy to be posted to Canada, I love the country and my task will be to bring more attention to the relations between Czechs and Canadians. We have lots of things in common, and we share similar values regarding the future of the world and happiness of the people. So my task will be to build strong and bold messages with action to our relations.”

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Author: Amelia Mola-Schmidt

Photo: Museum of Kroměříž

Valuable paintings, stained glass windows in Prague’s St. Vitus Cathedral, the first official portrait of President T. G. Masaryk and a series of postage stamps – these are just some of the works by Max Švabinský, one of the most important Czech painters of the last century.

Švabinský was born in September 1873 in Kroměříž. After graduating from high school in 1891, he was admitted to the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague. His exceptional talent was already evident back then.

His portraits, which captured many important personalities of his time, such as Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, Jan Neruda, Josef Mánes and Antonín Dvořák, became an essential part of his later work.

In addition to his paintings and prints, Švabinský became famous for three stained glass windows in St. Vitus Cathedral at Prague Castle. He participated in the decoration of the Municipal House in Prague and designed some Czechoslovak banknotes and postage stamps. Švabinský also devoted himself to teaching. In 1910 he was appointed professor at the Prague Academy of Fine Arts. He was also one of the founders of the Mánes Society of Artists and an important representative of the Hollar Association of Czech Graphic Artists.

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Author: Ruth Fraňková

The Prague Castle Administration has prepared a new exhibition called Windows of the St. Vitus Cathedral, which will present the craftsmanship of breathtaking stained glass windows in large-format photographs. Visitors will thus be able to view in detail what can only be perceived from afar in the cathedral. They can see it in the premises of the Císařská kónirna from September 22 to December 31, 2023.

“The exhibition shows a wealth of subjects, different artistic styles and different artistic techniques, e.g. a mosaic made of colored glass or painting on glass. Each of the windows is presented with a picture of the whole and photographs of selected details that the visitor cannot see from a normal point of view,” said the author of the exhibition, Petr Chotěbor. “Some windows had interesting fates – for example, the oldest realized fillings were replaced by others after thirty years, and the original ones found use in another church. The exhibition also shows medieval and modern stone tracery windows and examples of their sculptural decoration. The visitor has a unique opportunity to look into the process of creating stained glass windows and their restoration,” added Chotěbor.

Important loans at the exhibition include original stained glass windows from the 14th century from the property of the Metropolitan Chapter at St. Welcome to Prague, as well as a design for a stained-glass window for a rosette in the west facade of the church with the motif of the Creation of the World by František Kysela, which was lent by the Museum of Applied Arts in Prague, and a number of original architectural and artistic designs for the cathedral’s windows from the Prague Castle Archive. Important exhibits are also the artistic designs according to which the stained glass windows were realized.

All the stained glass windows, with one exception (windows in the chapel of St. Wenceslas) come from the era of Unity for the completion of the main church of St. Welcome to Prague Castle, as was the full name of the association that financed repairs and the entire completion of the cathedral. The set of stained glass was created gradually over a period of approximately one hundred years (1865-1969). Their implementation was made possible by generous financial donations from insurance companies, savings banks or other institutions and a whole range of individuals; there were even donors who did not want to be named. Artistic designs were ordered from a number of authors, among whom were well-known artists (e.g. František Kysela, Max Švabinský, Karel Svolinský, Cyril Bouda, Alfons Mucha). The first two modern cathedral builders, Josef Kranner and Josef Mocker, also took part in some of the designs. The oldest surviving windows were made by Jan Zachariaš Quast, after which production was entrusted to the Tyrolean Glassworks for Stained Glass and Cathedral Glass in Innsbruck for more than thirty years, as no glassworks capable of producing the necessary colored glass could be found in Bohemia. This changed in the period of the First Republic, when the window glazing was carried out by the domestic companies of Jan Jaroš, Josef Vlasák, Josef Jiřička and Jan Veselý.

Among the windows of the St. Vitus Cathedral are the oldest stained glass windows, namely in the windows of the chapel of St. Anthony the Hermit (St. John the Baptist). The youngest stained glass windows are in the windows of the chapel of St. Wenceslas, where both south windows are filled with an abstract composition of metallurgical glass designed by Stanislav Libenský and Jaroslava Brychtová. The most striking stained glass window (rosette) can be found in the window of the west facade and represents the Creation of the World according to František Kysela’s design. The most striking is the stained glass window in the chapel in Horov, whose composition on the theme of the celebration of the Slavic Annunciations and the central scene of the baptism of Prince Bořivoj was created by Alfons Mucha. The largest stained glass window has a window in the front of the transverse wall, the design for the theme of the Last Judgment was created by Max Švabinský.

Windows of St. Vitus Cathedral
Imperial Stables of Prague Castle
22 September – 31 December 2023
open daily 10am-6pm

Basic entrance fee: CZK 140
Reduced entrance fee: CZK 60
Family entrance fee: CZK 280

The exhibition is organized by the Prague Castle Administration.

Photo: Zuzana Bönisch

On Tuesday, September 19, 2023, President Petr Pavel delivered a speech in the general debate of the UN General Assembly. In it, he criticized Russia for violating the UN Charter and international law in connection with its invasion of Ukraine. In the morning New York time, the President attended the opening of the UN General Assembly and held several bilateral meetings during the day. He met with King Abdullah II of Jordan and with UN Secretary-General António Guterres.

In a speech lasting about 15 minutes, President Pavel pointed out the security problems facing the world in the general debate.

He spoke in particular about Russian aggression against Ukraine and the crimes Russia committed during the invasion.

He called for their termination. “Russia must unconditionally withdraw all its troops from the entire territory of Ukraine within the scope of its internationally recognized borders. Russia’s leaders must be held accountable for the crime of aggression against their neighbor,” he said. According to him, the Ukrainian people deserve not only an end to the fighting, but a just and lasting peace. If peace is to be sustainable, it cannot be based on unfair compromise or conditions imposed by the conqueror.

He promised that the Czech Republic would support Ukraine in its legitimate defense as long as needed. At the same time, he said that the restoration of Ukraine may be the greatest reconstruction effort in modern history. He called on all states to join it.

In his speech, President Pavel also pointed out, for example, the security, humanitarian, and political crisis in the Sahel region. He said that the Czech Republic strongly disagrees with China’s military activities, which increase tensions in the Taiwan Strait. He also mentioned the threat posed by climate change to global stability and security. He also emphasized the need for an active policy in the field of human rights and democracy, as well as the need to support media freedom.

The Czech president last spoke at the UN in 2017.

On Tuesday, President Pavel also met with King Abdullah II of Jordan, whom he invited to visit the Czech Republic. They talked about defense and security cooperation and humanitarian aid.

He agreed with Liechtenstein’s Hereditary Prince Alois on the issue of Russian aggression in Ukraine, they also discussed the ongoing dispute before the European Court of Human Rights, which concerns Liechtenstein property expropriated by Czechoslovakia after the Second World War. Prince Alois emphasized that he is ready to seek an out-of-court solution to this issue.

President Pavel also had a bilateral meeting with UN Secretary-General António Guterres. It took place in an extremely friendly atmosphere. Guterres praised the active and at the same time constructive approach of the Czech Republic not only at the UN, where Czech diplomacy often helps in reaching consensus. President Pavel declared his readiness to actively engage in global issues.

The president arrived in New York on Sunday evening. On Monday, he gave a speech at a summit on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which were set until 2030. After the summit, the president told journalists that due to the covid-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine and climate change, only about 15 percent of the goals have been met. The aim of the meeting was therefore to remind all countries of the need to adhere to these goals.

The president also had bilateral meetings on Monday. He spoke with the President of the Republic of Korea, Jun Sok-yol, about support for Ukraine, energy or high-speed lines. He also held talks with the President of the UN General Assembly, Dennis Francis. At the meeting with him, he condemned Russian aggression and the trampling of the UN Charter. He also met with representatives of the American Jewish Committee, with whom he discussed, for example, the need to confront increasingly numerous manifestations of anti-Semitism or the growing Iranian threat.

In the evening, the President attended a German reception for the 50th anniversary of Germany’s membership in the United Nations.

President Petr Pavel also spoke in an open debate of the Security Council, which dealt with the conflict in Ukraine. In his speech, he described the Russian invasion as a brutal and unprovoked offensive war in which Russia grossly violated the UN Charter. “It is a shameful affront to the rules-based order, and thus to the entire international community,” he said of Russia’s aggression.

According to President Pavel, Ukraine’s final victory means the victory of the rule of law and respect for others, while its defeat would allow brutality and lawlessness to prevail. “Therefore, it is not possible for any country to be neutral towards this conflict,” he noted. He said Russia must fully and unconditionally withdraw from Ukraine and Kremlin officials must face consequences and be brought to justice.

He supported the actions of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in his peace plan. “Only Ukraine can set the terms of any peaceful solution,” he said. He also recalled the Czech experience with Russian imperialism from 1968.

Photo: Šárka Ševčíková, Czech Radio

Yvonne Přenosilová, a popular 1960s Czechoslovak singing star who later became a radio presenter, sadly passed away last week.

The dark-haired Yvonne Přenosilová appeared as a teenage singer in Miloš Foman’s 1963 film Audition and a couple of years later became a bona fide pop star.

Her best-loved songs include Czech versions of US hits, such as Roň slzy (based on Brenda Lee’s I’m Sorry), Zlý znamení (Sonny and Cher’s The Beat Goes On) and Boty proti lásce (Lee Hazelwood’s These Boots Were Made for Walking, made famous by Nancy Sinatra).

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Author: Ian Willoughby

Photo: Czech Radio

At the end of the summer, Czech diplomats stationed around the world traditionally come back to Prague for a week of consultations about their individual agendas and global affairs. This year the meeting was inevitably overshadowed by the war in Ukraine and its impacts on the world at large. I met with Jakub Landovský, Czechia’s ambassador to NATO, to discuss the course of this conflict, its impacts on global security and whether it can change the world order as we know it.

“As in every war, it depends on the result and in every war there are two distinct possibilities –either we win or we lose. If you believe that you will win –or lose –you will be right in both cases. You need to believe in victory to make it happen.

“If we win, this will stop the usage of power as a tool to change the borders of countries, which means returning to the stable period of our history, returning to the UN Charter and global stability. If we win it will confirm the right of nations to decide their own fate, including Ukraine’s decision to join NATO, the EU and to fulfil their destiny within Euro-Atlantic structures. So the freedom of action of states will be reconfirmed. If we win, Russia will lose part of its ability to project power by force through its neighboring environment.

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Author: Daniela Lazarová

Photo: Jaroslav Ožana, ČTK

Tens of thousands of people attended the annual NATO Days at Ostrava’s Mošnov Airport at the weekend. The big attraction this year were US F-35 Lightning II aircraft piloted by the US Air Force Demo Team.

Source:ČTK

Photo: Jan Miklín, Krásnou Pálavou

Nestled at the foot of the Pálava Mountains in the south of Moravia, the picturesque town of Mikulov is one of Czechia’s most attractive destinations. While the town is best known for its wine cellars and historical monuments including an old Jewish quarter, there is more to Mikulov than meets the average tourist’s eye. For instance, few people know that in the past few decades, the town assembled one of the largest collections of contemporary Czech art.

A small diesel train brought me to the town of Mikulov, on the Czech-Austrian border, in the southeast of the country. When its monumental castle emerges like a mirage on the horizon along with a cluster of white chapels on top of the limestone hill above, visitors feel as if they are about to enter some kind of fairy-tale land. The town’s deputy mayor Petra Korlaar confirms that Mikulov is no ordinary place.

“First of all, Mikulov is very special for its geographical position, it’s literally on the border between the Czech Republic and Austria and therefore, it has accumulated something of both cultures. It’s not typically a Czech town, you can see many historical levels in Mikulov that are connected not only to the Czech Republic but also to its neighbouring countries.”

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Author: Pavla Horáková

Photo: Czech Olympic Committee

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 across the pond to lace up their skates in the highly anticipated women’s league.

Czech women will be able to make their mark on the professional ice hockey rink this coming year, as Czech talent were amongst those names selected on Monday’s first PWHL draft. Dominika Lásková, a 26-year-old defender who was part of the bronze medal winning Czech national women’s team for two consecutive years was selected in the fourth round of picks to play for Montreal’s new women’s club, making her the highest selected Czech player in the league.

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Author: Amelia Mola-Schmidt

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 traditional fish eaten by Czechs at Christmas. But this centuries-old fishing tradition could be under threat – from climate change.

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Authors: Anna Fodor, Filip Cerny, Source:iROZHLAS.cz

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 similar crisis in this country? I spoke to Viktor Mravčík, an expert on drug addiction.

“Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid. It’s part of the family of opiates, which are derivatives from natural opium. Like morphine, for example, or codeine and heroin.

“Fentanyl is used in medicine as a pharmaceutical drug, but in recent years it’s also misused, so it’s used a similar context as heroin or other illicit opioids.”

How has it contributed so much to these record drug deaths in the US?

“Fentanyl and other synthetic opioids have contributed to the so-called third wave of the opioid epidemic in the US.

“And how? There is simply a supply of illicit synthetic opioids including fentanyl and its derivatives on the US and North American illicit market and there is demand for opioids. “This is part of the context of this overdose crisis.”

See the rest here.

Author: Ian Willoughby

Photo: Envirofest

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 music, inspirational meetings and workshops, the festival aims to show that a sustainable lifestyle makes sense – and to make it mainstream.

See the rest here.

Authors: Anna Fodor, Markéta Ševčíková, Source:Český rozhlas Plus

Photo: Ian Willoughby, Radio Prague International

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 in the region. And some of the participants in the Duke Wenceslas Future Leaders Programme – Ani Khachatryan from Armenia, Timur Vilic of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Georgia’s Grigol Gegelia – came into our studios during a visit to Czech Radio.

Khachatryan: “I’m trained as a diplomat. I work currently for the European Union and in strategic communication and public diplomacy for the EU’s Eastern Neighbourhood. For seven years I have also worked for the public broadcaster of Armenia, serving first as a senior international officer for the public TV company and then as PR and communications manager of the council of the public broadcaster.”

How about you Timur? What’s your background?

Vilic: “I am currently the president of a local youth forum of Naša stranka, which is a social-liberal party from Bosnia and Herzegovina. We are rather small, not more than 10 percent of the vote, but we believe that we are bringing a new vision to our country, for Euro-Atlantic integration. I myself work as a translator currently. I studied Italian and Persian; I’m interested in languages, beside politics. But politics is something that I believe more young people should get involved in in Bosnia, because the situation is quite complicated and we need fresher views, fresher ideas.”

And Grigol, where are you from and what do you do?

Gegelia: “I’m from Georgia. I’m an opposition politician. I work on foreign relations and I’m the foreign secretary of a liberal centrist party called Lelo for Georgia. I’m one of the people engaged in trying to revitalise Georgian democracy, because we are currently run by an oligarch and his government. He is officially and formally pro-EU, but in terms of values, in terms of the set of ideals that they have, they are very far from the European ideal to which 90 percent of Georgians aspire. So as a citizen and as a politician I find it my mission to deliver my country from this political turmoil and to bring as much prosperity and safety to my people as possible. I’m really happy to be doing international relations, because that always brings me into the company of very nice and interesting people, like my colleagues here, like all our colleagues from Czechia. I’m very happy to be here and, again, to be thinking of how better to deliver my country away from these existential problems and security threats that we have, coming from Russia – which you, the people of Czechia, understand so well – and to ensure safety.”

See the rest here.

Author: Ian Willoughby

Photo: National Museum in Prague

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 Moravian Duets, which paved the composer’s way to world-wide fame.

The Moravian Duets, a cycle of 23 compositions for two voices and piano based on Moravian folk-song lyrics, were written by Dvořák between 1876 and 1885. According to Emanuele Gadaleta, head of the Dvořák Museum in Prague, the opus contributed significantly to the success of the composer’s work abroad.

See the rest here.

Author: Ruth Fraňková; Michaela Vetešková

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 the same as last year and most often visit the South Bohemian and South Moravian regions. The estimated average expenditure of Czechs in the given period per person is CZK 6,371, i.e. CZK 458 higher than last year. On vacation, travelers most want to pay by card, 57% of respondents prefer these payments in the Czech Republic, 46% abroad. In many places in the heart of Europe, however, it is still not possible to pay by card.

According to the August survey, in which 1,000 respondents took part, people in the Czech Republic currently pay by card during their vacation mainly for fuel (63%), food in restaurants (54%) and accommodation (51%). On the contrary, he pays cash mainly for souvenirs (50%).

“In the digital age, it can be a surprise for many foreign and domestic tourists in the Czech Republic if they cannot pay by card somewhere. Not everyone carries cash with them, so it can unfortunately happen that the inability to pay by card will discourage them from visiting a beautiful place, if there is no ATM nearby,” says the Director of the Czech Tourism Office – CzechTourism Jan Herget and adds: “Of course, it is only up to the sellers , whether they accept cards and how far they perceive the given thing as customer-friendly. Similarly, the card companies are helpful towards sellers. At the same time, the reality is that cash payments can be a time problem, for example at large events, which are also key for tourism, among other things. It usually takes longer to receive and return cash than to pay by card. And we are not talking about the gray economy, and thus less income from tourism to the state budget.”

Accommodation, apart from the fact that Czechs most often pay for it by card during their free days, usually also makes up the largest part of the Czech holiday budget. This fall, according to the survey, they make up 44% of the total average spending per person. This is CZK 6,371, i.e. CZK 458 higher than in the same period last year. In general, Czechs traveling in the Czech Republic spend less on average per person per day than guests from abroad. The largest number of foreign tourists to the Czech Republic came from Germany in the second quarter of this year, with 637,000 arrivals. Slovaks followed, numbering 237,000. 212,000 Poles, 143,000 Americans and 113,000 Britons also visited the center of Europe. While Germans spent an average of 2,979 CZK per person and day in the Czech Republic in the given period, it was 1,538 CZK for Slovaks and 1,954 CZK for Poles. Out of the first TOP 5 foreigners in the Czech Republic, in terms of the number of arrivals, the spending by citizens of Great Britain was significantly higher. It was CZK 3,053.

“In the past summer season, we recorded a 25% year-on-year increase in the number of non-cash transactions of foreign tourists in our territory. Conversely, the number of ATM withdrawals fell by 10%. As expected, the gastronomy segment saw the biggest increase, with foreigners spending 42% more than last year, followed by transport, followed by food and drink purchases in brick-and-mortar stores. From our data, we also see that Americans, Danes and Norwegians spent the most with us,” says Visa Country Manager Petr Polák, adding “At Visa, we help connect local merchants with tourists thanks to our payment network, which is one of the largest in the world.”

Overall, the number of tourists in the Czech Republic in the 2nd quarter of this year was almost the same as before the coronavirus pandemic. 5,770,399 stayed in hotels, pensions and apartments, while in the same period of 2019 there were 5,776,284 guests. 2.5 million foreigners came to us, i.e. 32% more than last year. There were 3.2 million domestic tourists, which meant a year-on-year increase of 4%. Czechs are currently planning their autumn vacation to be the same length as last year, i.e. 8 days. In the Czech Republic, according to the survey mentioned above, they most often want to visit South Bohemia (22%), South Moravia (12%), Liberecký and Královéhradecký (11%) regions.

“From all available statistics, data and everyday experience, it follows that Czechs consider the card their primary payment instrument. This also applies when traveling in our country and in Europe, when in recent years many people no longer exchange money at all and rely on the fact that everywhere they pay comfortably, quickly and safely with a card, or they choose the local currency at an ATM,” says the director of business development for public administration at Mastercard Katarína Kakalíková and adds: “Our four neighbors have long been among the most popular countries for Czech tourists: Poland, Germany, Slovakia and Austria, but also Croatia and Italy. We are following an interesting development in Croatia, where significantly fewer Czechs went this year than last year, and they also spent less money there. However, we are observing the growing popularity of the use of payment cards throughout Europe, which is also confirmed by the decrease in the average amount paid: just like at home, people also get used to paying cashless even for smaller purchases on vacation.”

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 spoke to Czech Radio hockey commentator František Kuna on the eve of the new season.

“There are three teams favoured this season. One is Sparta Prague, the other is Třinec – they won the last four titles. The third is Pardubice from East Bohemia, they are a team with a lot of money and great offensive players who have experience in the NHL.”

See the rest here.

Author: Amelia Mola-Schmidt

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 education, compared to the EU average of 37.67 percent. I discussed the situation with education expert Bob Kartous:

“This is the consequence of history, because in Czech Republic and in Czechoslovakia it was common trend to end the education process at the level of high school.

“Over the past 30 years, it has been changing, but the process is slow and the level of university and college graduates is still under the European Union average.

“This presents a problem both for the Czech society and the Czech labour market, because it suffers by the lack of people with qualification and skills from universities and colleges.”

So what do you think the government should do to attract more students to universities?

“I think that one way to raise the number of people studying colleges and universities is a plan presented by the current minister of education, Mikuláš Bek. He wants to encourage universities to open more practically oriented programs which should be shorter, three or four years long, and which should reflect more the requirements of the labour market and businesses.”

See the rest here.

Author: Ruth Fraňková

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 huge school of mackerel, dugong… Only one day – 18 October 2021 – I had not written anything. But now I was unexpectedly reminded of this very day through the iNaturalist network.

That day I was already returning to the shore when I saw a strange object just below the surface of the water. First, I thought that it was a piece of plastic, but immediately I realized that it could be some kind of organism. So, I took one photo and in the evening I uploaded it to iNaturalist. Unfortunately, its artificial intelligence extraordinarily had not offered me any hint at all, so my photo remained without any identification.

This has finally changed now. The marine biologist, Alejandro Escánez, from the University of Vigo in Spain, identified it as the eggs of diamond squid.

Once more: S-q-u-i-d!

Of course, my schoolboy years immediately jumped in my head, when I devoured Jules Verne’s Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea:

“But hardly were the screws loosed, when the panel rosed with great violence, evidently drawn by the suckers of a poulp’s arm. Immediately one of the arms slid like a serpent down the opening, and twenty others were above. With one blow of the axe Captain Nemo cut this formidable tentacle, that slid wriggling down the ladder.”

Although Jules Verne writes about a poulp, the memorable engravings by Alphonse de Neuville and Édouard Riou depict a squid; not to mention the fact that Verne himself referred to a story of the corvette Alecton, which tried to hunt down a two-ton giant squid in November 1861 (this was probably a huge overstatement, however, the truth is that this mysterious squid can reach truly fascinating proportions).

In the case of my observation, it was not the eggs of the giant squid, but the significantly smaller diamond squid; however: How often do you come across a clutch of such a strange, downright iconic creature?

“My” diamond squid can measure over one meter without the tentacles, so it is no little thing either. Moreover, it is remarkable in other ways, such as by its clutch. The female lays it by paired oviducts and at the same time she excretes a secretion, which connects them in a helix into phosphorescent tube with a diameter of ten to twenty centimetres and length of up to two metres. This twisted cylinder can contain tens of thousands of eggs – and when a diver very rarely comes across it, immediately wild speculations arise about what it could have been. At the same time, however, the record of each such a clutch is a valuable proof of the presence and reproduction activity of diamond squid in the area.

So in summary: The identification of the object on my almost two-year-old photo, confirmed also by a specialist in cephalopods, really pleased me and improved not only one, but several of my days.

Miroslav Bobek

The male common wombat Cooper and his mate Winkleigh are the only wombats in the Czech Republic. Photo by Oliver Le Que, Prague Zoo

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. September 16 and 17) among the inhabitants of the Darwin Crater: devils, wombats, kangaroos and kangaroos.

Walk right among the kangaroos and their babies through the walk-through exhibit in the Darwin Crater. Photo by Petr Hamerník, Prague Zoo

The program of weekend afternoons with the “protopods” at the Prague Zoo, in Darwin’s Crater:

14.00 meeting at the wombats

14.30 feeding the kangaroos in the walk-through exhibit

15.00 feeding of birds from the bush and wetlands

15.30 feeding of kangaroo rats

16.00 feeding of bear-like devils

Australian and Tasmanian collections will be on sale on both afternoons Prague Zoo with a special discount.

As part of the busy program, visitors can come and watch food specialists feed kangaroo rats. Photo by Petr Hamerník, Prague Zoo

Václav Šálek, ČTK

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

Photo: Prague 3

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 Czechia. Just before it began, I spoke to one of the event’s coordinators, Jiří Hannich.

What’s to be expected this weekend at the wine festival?

“The festival is a very popular and traditional event in Prague 3. This year is the 27th anniversary of the festival, and every year we try and give the festival a theme. For example, last year it was an Austro-Hungarian monarchy theme, so wines from the former monarchy were presented. This year, we’re spotlighting wines from Bohemia and Moravia. We want to support domestic wine makers and show that we have something to be proud of in this area in the Czech Republic. There will be about 31 wineries at the event during both days on Friday and Saturday.”

Why is it important to showcase that Czech wine is something to be proud of, especially to those who maybe aren’t from Czechia and are just visiting or are foreigners living here?

“Wine making and drinking wine has a tradition in the Czech Republic, and also it’s connected with Vinohrady where the festival is. The name ‘Vinohrady’ roughly translates to royal vineyard, and it’s named this because the area used to be covered in vineyards dating back to the 14th century, so we like to remember this tradition through this event.”

Read the rest here.

Author: Amelia Mola-Schmidt

Photo: Silvie Mikulcová, Czech Radio

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, which is the only “slender Venus” ever discovered in Europe, will be on display until Sunday.

Along with the clay statue of the Venus of Věstonice, the Petřkovice Venus is considered one of Czechia’s most unique examples of prehistoric art. The headless female torso was carved from hematite during the Upper Palaeolithic period. However, its age is not the only thing that makes it so special, explains Ján Hlobil from the Mining Museum in Landek Park in Ostrava:

“It is unique above all because it is the only slender Venus found in Europe. It is 4.6 centimetres tall and represents a young woman who was probably in the early stages of pregnancy.

“The statuette was discovered in July 14, 1953 during archaeological research initiated by the Institute of Archaeology of the Academy of Sciences and led by Mr. Bohuslav Klíma.”

Upon its discovery, archaeologists thought the head of the statue had broken off. Only later did they discover from the shape of the material that it was most likely the artist’s intention.

See the rest here.

Author: Ruth Fraňková

Photo: Lucie Heyzlová, Czech Radio

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 Theresienstadt in German, was established in the 18th century as a military fortress town by Emperor Joseph II. He named it after his mother, the Empress Maria Theresa, and it was intended to serve as a defence against invasions from Prussia.

During World War II the Germans turned the town north of Prague into a Jewish ghetto. Over 30,000 Jews died at the transit camp itself, while nearly 90,000 prisoners were later murdered at Nazi extermination camps.

Though today home to a Holocaust memorial, Terezín has fallen into increasing disrepair in recent times, a state that has been highlighted by international media reports.

But now the Czech government is taking action to rectify the situation, pledging to invest around CZK 3 billion in Terezín and another 18th century fortress town, Josefov in East Bohemia.

See the rest here.

Author: Ian Willoughby, Source:Český rozhlas

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 member of the delegation.

The goal is to present the Czech Republic as a reliable partner in the world that supports the reform efforts of the UN towards effective multilateralism in the 21st century. The main theme of the high-level week, which will be attended by the heads of the UN member states, will be the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Throughout the negotiations, the Czech Republic will advocate for the support of Ukraine and the punishment of Russia for launching a war against Ukraine. Other important topics will be climate change, UN reform, respect for rights in the digital environment or international cooperation in response to pandemics.

In this context, the speeches of the President of the Republic in the general debate of the UN General Assembly, at the Summit on Sustainable Development Goals (SDG Summit) and at the open meeting of the UN Security Council on the situation in Ukraine will be crucial.

The presence of senior statesmen will be used by the president and the minister of foreign affairs to meet with a wide range of bilateral partners and representatives of international organizations. Among other things, the topics of the meeting will be the sharing of the Czech position on Russian aggression in Ukraine and the presentation of the newly announced Czech candidacy for the UN Security Council for the period 2032-33.

Last but not least, the negotiations will be an opportunity to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Czech Republic’s membership in the United Nations as the successor state of Czechoslovakia, which was one of the co-founders of this organization. On this occasion, a gala dinner will be held in the Czech National Building in New York on September 20 under the auspices of President Petr Pavel and Slovak President Zuzana Čaputová.

Among the most important events, Mr. President will actively participate in the following: The SDG Summit will take place on 18-19 September. It is the flagship event of the week at a high level. Its goal is to mobilize support for achieving the goals of sustainable development. Performance is expected at the level of heads of state and government. The Czech President will speak on the morning of September 18 on behalf of the Pathfinders group of states (a group of 46 countries promoting the implementation of Sustainable Development Goal No. 16 – peace, justice and strong institutions). With its active participation, the Czech Republic shows the importance of achieving the goals of sustainable development, even in the light of the complicated security and economic environment.

The opening of the general debate of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly will take place on 19 September. The President of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly, Dennis Francis (Trinidad and Tobago), chose the topic “Rebuilding trust and reigniting global solidarity: Accelerating action on the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable” for the general debate Development Goals towards peace, prosperity, progress and sustainability for all”. The heads of delegations of all states will speak in the debate. The President of the Republic will deliver a national speech on the first day of the general debate on September 19.

During the high-level week, an open debate of the UN Security Council on the situation in Ukraine is also convened on September 20. The debate will be led by the prime minister of Albania, which will chair the UN Security Council in September, and a number of world statesmen will speak at it. Ukraine is to be represented at the level of President V. Zelensky. The President of the Republic will speak for the Czech Republic.

Photo: Elena Horálková, Tschechischer Rundfunk

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 of Sunday Music Show, you can listen to some of his best-known songs.

See the rest here.

Author: Ruth Fraňková

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 overtime altogether.

Although the newly approved bill touches on several areas affecting the work of doctors, the part that has sparked controversy is a stipulation increasing the amount of voluntary overtime that they are allowed to work. Critics point out that the regulation allows the number of overtime hours medics work per year to roughly double – up to 832 hours for doctors and 1000 hours for paramedics.

The law was passed despite opposition from young doctors, who called on politicians on Monday to reject the bill. Martin Kočí, the chairman of the Association of Young Doctors, told Czech Radio last week that long hours affect the ability of doctors to do their jobs properly.

“It is impossible to imagine that any person would be able to stay focused and work continuously for 26 hours straight. That is simply impossible. There are jobs where you simply can’t do more than 12 hours.”

A survey on the mental health of doctors conducted by the association revealed that 70 percent suffer from exhaustion, 46 percent from burnout, 37 percent from psychosomatic problems, 33 percent from anxiety disorders, 28 percent from depression, 20 percent from abuse of alcohol, medication or drugs, and 17 percent from post-traumatic stress disorder.

See the rest here.

Authors: Anna Fodor, Tomáš Pancíř, Sources:iROZHLAS.cz,ČTK

Photo: ČT24

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 narrative style, philosophical depth, and keen insights into the human condition.

Kundera was born on April 1, 1929, in Brno, Czechoslovakia. As a student in the late 1940s and early 1950s, he became a member of the Communist Party and wrote poetry in admiration of the then-Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin. He later left the party and regretted the errors of his youth.

His works were intimately tied to the political and cultural milieu of his homeland. Novels such as “The Unbearable Lightness of Being” and “The Book of Laughter and Forgetting” provide profound commentary on the nature of love, memory, and the human experience within the complex historical and political landscapes of Central Europe, especially during the era of Soviet influence.

See the rest here.

Author: Vít Pohanka

Photo: Ian Willoughby, Radio Prague International

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 a colourful new book, Radio 1: Life in the Ether, by Jana Kománková, one of its longest serving DJs. We spoke on the eve of its publication.

What is your own association with the station? When did you start working for Radio 1?

“I started in 1993. I was working for a music magazine that had a guest show each week on the air, and I was really happy to be able to go there. I think the others were sort of tired going to the Radio, so they happily let me go.

“And once I was in I sort of got some shifts covering somebody else’s shift and I just stayed.”

When was the station first set up? It was the first ever non-state radio station in Prague after the fall of communism?

“It began in 1990. First it was a pirate station. A bunch of students got hold of some equipment for broadcasting and they asked for the possibility to broadcast legally, but since it was very shortly after the Velvet Revolution there wasn’t a law that would enable the starting of a radio station.

See the rest here.

Author: Ian Willoughby

Photo: Magdalena Hrozínková, Radio Prague International

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. This would not have been the case if it were not for the enormous efforts of the patron and art collector Meda Mládková. Thanks to her, the museum in the Sova’s Mills building right by the Vltava on Prague’s Kampa, has become one of Prague’s important cultural institutions.

See the rest here.

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 Hilsner’s infamous trial, which sparked a huge wave of anti-Semitism at the time.

The murder of the 19-year-old seamstress Anežka Hrůzová took place near Polná in South Bohemia, on March 29, 1899. The body was found three days later with a deep cut to the neck, although there was allegedly only a small amount of blood at the scene of the crime.

Easter that year coincided with the Jewish holiday of Passover, and talk of a ritual “blood libel” killing immediately started. Although there were other suspects, the investigation concentrated on Leopold Hilsner, a 22-year-old simple-minded Jewish vagrant. He was arrested without any incriminating evidence due to mounting public pressure and an anti-Semitic press campaign.

He confessed to the charge of murder and named his accomplices while in prison, after fellow inmates told him doing so would save his neck. Hilsner was released from prison shortly before the end of the First World War after serving 18 years of a life sentence, following a pardon by the Austrian Emperor.

See the rest here.

Author: Ruth Fraňková

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 implications of these findings with nutrition expert Dr. Eliška Selinger.

“Of course the implications are on health of people, because the consumption of fruits and vegetables are very important for our bodies, they contain a lot of vitamins, minerals and fibre. We know very well that a low consumption of vegetables and fruits is tightly connected to a higher risk of developing cardio-vascular diseases, diabetes, or different kinds of cancer. There is quite a high risk amongst the Czech population for these diseases, and we are sure that this sort of behaviour costs us a lot of money and impacts the quality of life and health.”

What are the barriers that prevent Czechs from consuming these important food groups? Is it the cost of these items, or is this a lifestyle choice linked to traditional foods?

“It’s a combination as it always is with these complex topics. The traditional Czech diet does not include many vegetables, it’s meat with dumplings or rice. People just don’t learn how to cook vegetables properly or how to involve them in their diet. Often people need to re-educate themselves on how to involve these foods. As always in public health, we know very well that our environment shapes our choices. This is an issue with the diet here in Czechia because vegetables are expensive, and often veggie meals in restaurants and canteens are the most expensive meal on the menu, so you have to be able and willing to pay for it. Very often it’s not only the cost, but in some places there isn’t even a vegetarian option on the menu. We need to pay more attention to our environment.”

See the rest here.

Author: Amelia Mola-Schmidt

Photo: Dublin-Smart-Tourismn from anywhere

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 a first for Ireland and uses new open Google Maps technology to create an interactive 3D map.

Users can be “transported into the city” to learn more about the history and significance of locations such as the Guinness Storehouse, EPIC – the Irish Emigration Museum, and 14 Henrietta Street.

“DiscovAR offers a new way for visitors and locals to experience the capital city,” said Jamie Cudden, Smart City Lead, Dublin City Council.

“Through our Smart Dublin programme, we are always thinking about how we can embrace new technologies to enhance how people engage with our city.

 ”This app through its immersive AR technology is a new and fun way to explore the city’s culture and history and we see huge potential to expand this.”

Netflix approach

The project is a collaboration between Dublin City Council, Smart Dublin and Virgin Media Business alongside Peel X, which developed the feature for the Dublin Discovery Trails app.

The app – which launched in January 2023 – is part of a larger ‘smart tourism’ strategy to invest in digital technology to improve the visitor experience.

“The app was built on an augmented reality platform called Unity,” Barry Rogers, Head of the Dublin City Tourism Unit, told Cities Today.

“Initially when we designed the app, its core purpose was for a digital heritage trail ‘Doors into Docklands’, which launched in January 2023.

“Essentially the app is a platform – it’s similar to the way that online streaming services like Netflix work, where you’ve got a platform and then multiple features on that platform. Now it’s a much bigger platform with more trails, and the augmented reality map feature.”

Read the rest here.

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 Czechia the proportion has steadfastly remained at around one-quarter since 2019.

Across the EU, the share of new cars sold so far this year that were diesel was only 14.52 percent, down from 44.4 percent in 2017. Meanwhile, in Czechia that proportion has remained relatively unchanged over the same period, declining slightly from 37.69 percent and hovering around 25 percent since 2019.

So why are diesel cars so comparatively popular in Czechia? Some car owners, like Oldřich Růžička, see clear advantages.

“With my old petrol cars, I always had problems with the spark plugs and cables. Since I’ve had a diesel car, that doesn’t happen and I wouldn’t want any other type of car. It has better acceleration and a bigger range.”

See the rest here.

Authors: Anna Fodor, Daniel Zach, Sources:Český rozhlas Plus, Centrum dopravního výzkumu

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 vulnerable groups. To get a better understanding of the picture here in Czechia, we spoke to molecular geneticist Dr. Jan Pačes.

“So far the numbers are very low, yet they are all rising. What we can predict is that in one month, the number of infected people will grow. Like with the flu, at some point it will become too much, and then it would be a good idea to start taking some protective measures. The issue is, even if you get Covid and you have no symptoms or very mild symptoms, you can still get long Covid. It looks like people are not protected against long Covid even after the second or third infection, you can still get it. Long Covid is something that can make your life much harder, you can lose smell, get some physiological and psychological problems like brain fog. Covid is not an easy disease that we can just forget about.”

While the number of infections are currently low, tracking new Covid-19 cases here in Czechia is not easy, and little is known about the impact of new variants such as Pirola and Eris, says Dr. Pačes.

“During summer, the numbers of new infections, hospitalizations and deaths dropped very low. But we do not have the exact numbers, because Covid-19 is no longer a disease that has to be reported, so we do not have much information.”

When it comes to the efficacy of vaccines against new variants, the information available now points to certain shots being more effective than others.

See the rest here.

Author: Amelia Mola-Schmidt

Photo: Juan Pablo Bertazza, Radio Prague International

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 artistic, historical or architectural significance, but also to invite members of the public to adopt them. I discussed these goals with one of its organizers, architect Filip Ditrich:

“We wanted to help restore some old graves in our cemeteries, in particular here in the Olšany Cemetery. Some of them are really big and expensive to renovate, so we decided to organize a benefit concert to help raise the money for it.

“The second reason is to show the public that cemeteries are not just burial grounds. They are places where you can sit and contemplate and they can also serve to host special cultural events. So I hope our event is the right way to show this.”

Can you tell us more about the program for adoption of graves? When was it established and how does it work?

“The programme has been running for more than five years. Currently we have some 520 graves available for adoption, not only here at the Olšany Cemetery, but also in other cemeteries that the Prague Cemeteries and Funeral services is in charge of.

“Some 307 of them have already been adopted, but we are still looking for people who will be willing to take care of the remaining ones.”

See the rest here.

Author: Ruth Fraňková

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 film dramatises the events surrounding the Mašín brothers forming an armed resistance group and escaping from communist Czechoslovakia to West Berlin, a topic which remains divisive to this day.

Josef and Ctirad Mašín went down in history after they and Milan Paumer, another member of their armed resistance group, managed to evade capture and escape to West Berlin in 1953. They are regarded by some as heroes, but many others consider them to be cold-blooded murderers, as they killed six people as they fought their way out of the country.

The film that dramatises these events was directed by a distant relative of the brothers, Tomáš Mašín, who says he finds the heroes-or-villains debate somewhat redundant.

“That is a question generated long ago in the communist era – the communists created this black-or-white view. So I refuse to answer on principle – I won’t say yes or no.”

See the rest here.

Authors: Anna Fodor, Martin Hrnčíř, Kristina Roháčková, Source:iROZHLAS.cz

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 works for the Czech Statistics Office, about these developments.

“The increasing share of non-Czech mothers is closely connected with the continued increase of foreigners in the Czech Republic. It’s also closely connected to the increase of mixed nationality marriages, the share of marriages where at least one member of the couple has a citizenship other than Czech rose from nine percent to 12 percent over the last ten years. Regarding non-Czech mothers, the Czech Statistical Office has been collecting data since 2012, and over this period the percent of non-Czech mothers has been increasing, namely 5.3 percent in 2012, to 9.4 percent in 2022. This year, the preliminary share of the first half of the year is already higher, it’s about ten percent.”

Are there any specific nationalities that are driving this increase?

“For the whole period since 2012, there has been three countries where women form the majority of non-Czech mothers: Slovakia, Ukraine, and Vietnam. Till 2021, the most non-Czech mothers were Slovak, but in 2022, it’s Ukrainians. There has been a large increase in the number of mothers with Ukrainian nationalities of new-borns last year, it rose from 1800 to 3,600. This was connected partly due to the increase of refugees from the war in Ukraine. This year, the situation has not changed, Ukrainian mothers are driving these high numbers of non-Czech mothers in the first half of this year. There were almost 500 more live births with Ukrainian mothers. The Ukrainian mothers compose more than two-fifths of all non-Czech mothers of new-borns. On the other hand, the number of Slovak and Vietnamese mothers has decreased.”

See the rest here.

Author: Amelia Mola-Schmidt

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 with Alexandr Kasal from the National Centre for Mental Health:

“Compared to the last three years, when the numbers were mostly stable or only slightly increasing, the 2022 increase was about 6 percent. This might be a wake-up call for the Czech system of mental health care and experts in suicide prevention. It is true that if we compare it to a longer period, the numbers were higher back then. Still, it is quite alarming.”

So what are the main reasons behind the growing number of suicides here in Czechia?

“Well, as for any individual suicide death, the reasons are usually quite complex, so we don’t have a clear answer to this. However, some of the factors behind the increase in 2022 is that it is still just a few years since the Covid-19 pandemics. Also, the Russian aggression in Ukraine has definitely had an effect on the whole society.”

See the rest here.

Author: Ruth Fraňková

Photo: Michaela Říhová, ČTK

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 having a lasting impact?

The prime minister was upbeat when he unveiled his new vista for the economy in a presentation at a business forum named Czechia at a Crossroads – and highlighted key areas of focus for the coming decades.

“Transport, energy infrastructure, nuclear power, lithium, chips and trends in information technology. These are six concrete fields that have enormous potential to change our country. Therefore a major part of our strategic investment must go into those very areas.”

Petr Fiala has dubbed this programme Restart Czechia and says it should also help cut red tape, boost confidence and improve the education system. All of this should make the country a key European hub within a decade.

See the rest here.

Author: Ian Willoughby

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 reason for the adopted changes is the currently large amount of implemented agenda connected with the high workload of the current director of the communication department. Markéta Řeháková was offered the position of spokesperson for the president of the republic, which she accepted.

At the same time, we are announcing that Linda Jozwiak Kopecká is leaving the position of Director of the Cabinet of the President of the Republic, following the planned changes related to Linda Jozwiak Kopecká’s job title. Part of the decision was also consideration of another job offer outside the Office of the President of the Republic.

“I thank both of them for the work done and I wish them much success in their professional and private lives”, added Jana Vohralíková.

Photo: Petr Zmek

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 regions distributed almost 2,350,000 crowns equally.

The funds were distributed among the following organizations: Charita Hlučín, Charita Most, Klubíčko Cheb, z.s., Linka bezpeči, z.s., Foundation fund Modrá rybka, Hope for all, z.s. and Res vitae, z.s.

President Pavel wants to cooperate more with the regions and help regions that suffer from structural problems within the Czech Republic and are often overlooked. In his earlier personal visits to these regions, he was interested in particular problems of local citizens, and opportunities for development or strengthening of social cohesion. Therefore, the president chose five of the seven gifted organizations from the Karlovy Vary, Moravian-Silesian, and Ústí regions. The other two then work in Prague. Each organization was donated more than 335,000 crowns.

The unused funds of President Pavel’s election campaign will be used to help children who have found themselves in a crisis or threat and cannot remain with their families for various reasons, to support the education of children of disadvantaged people and single parents as well as these persons and the parents themselves, and on linking formal and informal education within the Strategy of the Education Policy of the Czech Republic until 2030+. The donation will also be used by prevention and crisis workers, organizers of leisure activities for young people handicapped or health and social workers providing home care to clients. In this way, President Pavel decided to support demanding professions providing the necessary help and care to vulnerable people and their families.

The Law on the Election of the President of the Republic imposes the obligation to distribute surplus campaign funds to the president; the amount of funds and their specific distribution is then entirely at the choice of the elected president.

Photo: Prague Sounds

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 performed is Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem, based on poetry written by Wilfred Owen, a British war poet who was a victim of World War I. I spoke to the Programmer of Prague Sounds, Guy Borg about the upcoming performance and its significance.

I want to start by asking you about the significance of the music being performed at the concert this Sunday – it’ a piece by Benjamin Britten, can you tell me a bit about it?

“Britten’s War Requiem was written between 1961 and 1962 as a tribute to those who had fallen in war. It was first performed in one of the British cathedrals that was heavily bombed during the Second World War. The piece is a source of meditation on war, a tribute to the victims, and also a call of hope and it’s certainly against the barbarity of war.”

See the rest here.

Author: Amelia Mola-Schmidt

Photo: Maria Hammerich-Maier, Radio Prague International

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 show brings you a selection of organ music performed by Adam Viktora, who is the organiser of the Czech Organ Festival currently taking place around the country.

The 17th edition of the Czech Organ Festival offers approximately 70 concerts of powerful music played on a variety of organs throughout the country, from the bustling capital of Prague to small village churches. The instruments, dating from the 17th to the first half of the 20th century, are very diverse, ranging from the large and famous to the rare and historic.

The concert repertoire is always tailored to the specific organ it is being played on, as each instrument is unique and has its own unmistakable sound. Baroque pieces are ideal for a baroque organ, while a romantic instrument is best suited to a romantic repertoire, says Adam Viktora.

See the rest here.

Author: Libor Kukal, Source:www.ceskevarhany.cz

Photo: Matthieu Berroneau, Czech Academy of Sciences

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 this territory by global climate change.

The greater white-toothed shrew is a small mammal resembling a mouse, with a long pointed snout and tiny eyes. However, unlike the mouse, it is carnivorous, feeding mainly on invertebrates, but occasionally also on small rodents and amphibians.

The small mammal was discovered in the Cheb region by experts from the Academy of Sciences last autumn, while collecting samples of house mice in the Cheb region in the westernmost part of the country.

See the rest here.

Author: Ruth Fraňková; Karolína Burdová

Photo: Michaela Danelová, Czech Radio

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 centre where the cycle of paintings will be displayed.

The Slav Epic is a monumental work of Czech painter Alfons Mucha in which he traces the history of the ancient Slavs. Mucha, who regarded the cycle of 20 huge canvasses as his lifetime achievement, dedicated the series of paintings to the City of Prague in 1928 on condition that a suitable venue was provided to showcase them.

To this day, however, Prague City Hall has not been able to find a suitable location and the fate of the Slav Epic became the focal point of a drawn-out legal battle between the Czech capital and the descendants of the painter.

See the rest here.

Author: Ruth Fraňková

Photo: archive of Veronika Láníková

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 space” in the city. For now, however, it may be described as a little bit of Český Krumlov in Prague, exhibiting the works of one of the town’s prominent modern artists – Miroslav Páral.

See the rest here.

Author: Thomas McEnchroe

Photo: Ian Willoughby, Radio Prague International

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 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand with the Jamaican national squad. Ahead of the derby at Sparta’s 19,000 capacity Letná stadium, I spoke to Schneider at a club facility in the Prosek district.

Could you please tell us something about yourself – you’re on the Jamaican national team, but you’re from New Jersey?

“Both of my grandparents on my mom’s side, so both of her parents, were born in Jamaica and then they moved to the States. They had my mom and then she had me – so that’s how it can be possible.”

See the rest here.

Author: Ian Willoughby

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-eyed Cat” and small gifts. “We will try to make sure that you have a good time in this country, that you do well, and that you enjoy school. It’s nice to be in such a nice school.

I used to go to kindergarten here, I went to school over the hill. I lived here for 18 years, I created many friendships,” said Eva Pavlová to the children.

She then met with the school director, teachers, school staff, and the mayor of Jindřichov. “I would like to thank the mayor of the village of Jindřichov and the school director for their kind welcome and at the same time for the hard work that they do here,” said Eva Pavlová.

She choose to go to school in Jindřichov for the reason that it is located in a structurally affected region.

During a visit to Jindřichov, she met her ex-teacher and classmate.

Photo: Archive KPR

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 gentleman, came to Kyiv with her of Slovenia, Sirie Karis, First Lady of Estonia, Tamara Vucic, wife of the Serbian President, Anna Hakobyan, wife of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia and Juraj Rizman, partner of the President of the Slovak Republic. Other first ladies and gentlemen joined in remotely. Special guest was Antony Blinken, Secretary of State of the United States of America. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi also spoke at the summit.

The main topic of the summit was mental health and the effects of war on the mental health of the population of the attacked country and other states.

“The war in Ukraine strongly affected the whole world. It has affected our lives, values, and economy. In the Czech Republic, we provide shelter to 350,000 Ukrainian war refugees, mostly women, children, and the elderly. Our children are getting to know Ukrainian peers in schools, we work with Ukrainian colleagues and follow the events in Ukraine in the media. We all hope that this painful war will soon end and the process of “restoration” of the wounded souls and the devastated country will begin, “Eva Pavlova said in Kyiv.

Photo: Archive KPR

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 concerned about its impacts on their finances. I spoke to Prague-based economist Lukáš Kovanda about whether this fear is grounded.

Could explain what changes the austerity package will bring and whether Czechs are right to be concerned about them?

“The package contains a number of tax hikes, and people are concerned that with tax hikes their living standards would worsen. These new taxes could add up on top of worsening living standards that have taken place because of high energy prices and inflation – this is the worst it’s been in the Czech Republic in the last 30 years. Many people are facing the worsening of their economic situations, accompanied by a huge decline in real wages – it’s the worst in the history of the Czech Republic since 1993. Now this consolidation package has brought some factors that may worsen their living standards. So this why they are sceptical about this package.”

See the rest here.

Author: Amelia Mola-Schmidt

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. The vehicle took five months for the team to construct and will race over six hours at the tournament. I spoke with one of the students from the project, 17-year-old Jacek Chmiel about the process of designing the car.

For our listeners and myself included who may not know what a hydrogen powered-cell car is, can you explain this to us?

“Of course! It’s a fuel-cell electric vehicle – that’s a bit of a mouthful, so it’s much easier to call it a hydrogen car. The hydrogen is passed through a fuel cell to generate electricity. That is because of the chemical properties of hydrogen, you can pass it through a special membrane to generate electricity, and that is used to power a battery that powers a motor. The battery is there because the motor while accelerating draws a lot of power, and to give the car a lot more agility, it goes through a battery, and that’s how the hydrogen charging mechanism works.”

See the rest here.

Author: Amelia Mola-Schmidt

Photo: Barbora Němcová, Radio Prague International

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 road law, due to come into force next year, should put an end to that.

Since the 2017 approval of a law banning advertising billboards from the sides of all motorways and first class roads, close to five thousand such illegal billboards have been removed from roads around the country. And municipalities, towns and regions say that, despite the legislation, the struggle to deal with visual pollution, particularly close to cities, has not got any easier. Michal Šebek, deputy mayor of České Budějovice says those putting them up are always a step ahead.

See the rest here.

Authors: Daniela Lazarová, Matěj Vodička, Source:Český rozhlas

Photo: archive of Czech Radio

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 independent Czechoslovakia, working for the creation of the common state of Czechs and Slovaks from abroad, together with Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk and Milan Rastislav Štefánik.

He was the first and longest-serving foreign minister of Czechoslovakia, holding the post from 1918 to 1935 through ten successive governments, one of which he headed himself from 1921 to 1922.

When President Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk retired in 1935, Beneš succeeded him as Czechoslovak president.

He served as the country’s president from 1935 to 1938, and again from 1939 to 1948.

See the rest here.

Photo: archive of University of Defence

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 militarisation of society? I spoke to the programme’s initiator, Jan Kofroň of the Institute of Political Studies at the Faculty of Social Sciences.

“We live in a relatively dangerous moment in our national history, in the history of Central Europe. And I think the defence of the Czech Republic, and our nation, if you like, is quite important.

“We know that typically younger people do not want to serve as much as we would like – or as the Czech Army or Czech society would like. So what we are trying to achieve is to provide some small benefit to those who have decided to take care of the defence of the Czech Republic.

“I don’t think that somebody would go into the Active Reserve just because of a few credits. But I think is a way to show that we appreciate their efforts, and that we are well aware that their service is of value for the broader society.”

See the rest here.

Author: Ian Willoughby

Photo: Vít Šimánek, ČTK

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

Little chap Tika is exactly one year old today. The cub of the critically endangered species is thriving and visitors can watch its cute grins and frolics in the outdoor enclosure on these sunny days. Photo by Petr Hamerník, Prague Zoo

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 most significant additions to the Prague Zoo. Only one other institution in Europe is successfully breeding the critically endangered subspecies of these monkeys.

“Tiko’s first birthday and he makes us happy. He is still drinking breast milk, but he is already trying to taste vegetables. She is boldly moving away from her mother Talula more and more and further. However, as soon as something startles him, he whistles, and that morning his mother runs to save him, to whom he cuddles,” says chief primate keeper Martin Vojáček.

Tiko uses his long tail not only when climbing branches as a belaying rope for a climber, but at the same time he also uses it to watch over his mother Talula – so in this case it is more about parental supervision. Photo by Petr Hamerník, Prague Zoo

Baby monkeys are closely tied to their mothers, just like other New World primates, such as ring-tailed monkeys and monkeys. Unlike old-world monkeys – gueres or marsupials – in whose groups several other “aunties” willingly take care of their offspring, people see little Tik almost exclusively by Talula’s side.

“People can watch the little guy’s fun games almost anytime. Mornings and early afternoons are best, but due to their daily activity and general tenacity, there is practically always something happening on the island. From the point of view of visitors, they are thus a very attractive species,” adds Martin Vojáček.

The bald spot at the end of the tail serves the graspers for an even better grip on the branches. With a bit of exaggeration, the unusually long tail can thus be described as the fifth limb. Photo by Petr Hamerník, Prague Zoo

Currently, people will find a group of five in the exhibition. In addition to Tiko and his parents – the dominant couple, which consists of a male Benji and a female Talula – it is inhabited by Tiko’s three-year-old sister Tianna and an unrelated female Petula. Prague Zoo is the most successful European breeder of this critically endangered subspecies – a cub is born here regularly roughly every three years since 2007, while breeding began in 2005.

Chapanis are generally characterized by a prehensile tail, which is more like a fifth limb. Thanks to this, their name can be translated from Spanish or English as “spider monkey”. The Central American Mexican Capybara is an arboreal primate and therefore suffers mainly from deforestation in its homeland. According to estimates, their population has fallen by an alarming four-fifths over the past three generations.

Tiko is already trying to taste solid food. In addition to vegetables such as carrots, spinach, tomatoes and cucumbers, unlike most other primates, chimpanzees also regularly receive fruit – apples, pears or peaches.

Photo by Petr Hamerník, Prague Zoo

Photo: Olga Vasinkevič, Radio Prague International

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 occurred.

The first attested miracle on the site occurred in June 1632, when a certain Jan Procházka is said to have regained his sight. More than 4500 miracles are recorded in the church’s chronicles, each meticulously recorded with its own serial number and the year in which it occurred. Thanks to its reputation for miraculous healing, Emperor Ferdinand II and his son, who eventually succeeded him as Emperor Ferdinand III, visited the site in 1634 and twice more in 1646.

See the rest here.

Author: Klára Stejskalová, Source:Český rozhlas

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 overzealous individuals and inadvertent inbreeding.

Many were shocked by the recent fertility scandal that rocked the Netherlands: the case of Jonathan M, a 41-year-old man suspected of fathering more than 550 children through sperm donations. He was taken to court by a foundation protecting the rights of donor children and was ordered to stop donating.

But, it turns out, there is nothing to prevent a similar situation happening in Czechia. At the moment, there is no upper limit to the amount of times a person can donate egg or sperm cells, and no records are kept of previous donations. Moreover, clinics are under no obligation to share any information about donors with each other.

See the rest here.

Authors: Anna Fodor, Vít Kubant, Source:iROZHLAS.cz

Photo: archive of Chi Xiao Mian

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 people’s stereotypes of Chinese food. I caught up with Xuewen to discuss the restaurant, and started by asking why she chose Prague to open her business.

See the rest here.

Author: Amelia Mola-Schmidt

Photo: Pilsner Urquell

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 extremely dry and hot environments – bringing attention to the water insecurity issues being faced worldwide. The technology can extract 35 litres of water a day, even from the driest climates in the world.

The beer, a bitter lager titled “Futur”, is about twice as bitter as a standard Czech lager. It’s also limited edition, being produced in small batches, so it will only be available to sample at Radegast Days, happening on August 26th in Nošovice, or you can enter in the company’s social media competition to win some bottles of the environmental brew.

See the rest here.

Photo Source: KPR

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 the Office of the President of the Republic, the reason for inviting the President of North Macedonia was mainly to support the country’s pro-European orientation. The Czech Republic has long supported the integration of countries of the Western Balkans into European and transatlantic structures. It wants to prevent the destabilization of the region, either as a result of ethnic tensions or the growing influence of China and Russia. The Czech Republic also appreciates North Macedonia’s approach to the Ukrainian crisis, its supply of arms and military material to the attacked country.

In recent years, the two countries have cooperated mainly in solving security and migration issues, with North Macedonia being one of the main transit countries during the migration crisis.

When the fight against illegal migration represents a buffer zone in front of the external border of the European Union, thus helping to strengthen the security of member countries with its activities. In this context, Czech police officers are deployed in the country, serving as part of the Frontex agency.

The goal of the visit of the president of North Macedonia is also a trade promotion.

The presidential couple began their visit at Prague Castle in front of the Honorary Unit of the Castle Guard. This was followed by the introduction and meeting of the members of the national delegations, an entry in the memorial book Prague Castle, exchange of gifts, and private meeting of the presidential couples.

Eva Pavlová and Elizabeta Gjorgievská visited the Cathedral of sv. Víta Václava a Vojtěcha, the Old Royal Palace and the South Gardens of Prague Castle.

At the press conference, President Petr Pavel emphasized:

“The Balkans was and is a territory that is a crossroads of various influences. And it is important for us that this region remains safe. The Czech Republic supported Macedonia’s entry into NATO and today supports its efforts to join the European Union. North Macedonia is in the Balkans migration path, we have a common interest in solving illegal migration, which is why more than 1,800 Czech policemen and policewomen took turns on its territory to help protect the border against illegal migration.”

Photos from the visit of the President of the Republic of North Macedonia will be available on www.hrad.cz.

Photo Source: KPR

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 of the Czech Republic’s embassies abroad at Prague Castle. The meeting takes place every year on the occasion of the meeting of ambassadors, to which he invites them to Prague Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic.

In President Pavel in a speech he outlined his vision of how he would approach foreign policy. He appreciated that after a long time, the highest constitutional officials have agreed on the need to strive for a unified and predictable Czech foreign policy.

President Pavel sees three basic prerequisites for the security of the Czech Republic. “In the modern world, which is based on values, the will and right of the stronger must not prevail. No one can take away from the current crisis, the feeling that manipulation and violence to advance one’s own interests pays off,” he said. Therefore, support for Ukraine will continue to be a part of all his negotiations. He emphasized that Russia’s victory cannot be allowed. For the most reliable guarantee of long-term peace in Eastern Europe

The president considers a prosperous and democratic Ukraine that will be fully integrated into the Euro-Atlantic community.

He identified problem-free relations with neighbors as the second prerequisite for the security of the Czech Republic. He highlighted the above-standard ties with Slovakia. In terms of size and strength, it is considered it to be the most important European partner Germany. He also mentioned the importance of regional formats, for example, the so-called Visegrad Four.

After the withdrawal of Great Britain from the European Union, he considered it necessary to diligently search for coalitions across the continent in the Baltics, in Scandinavia, and among other medium-sized countries.

According to President Pavel, the third clear prerequisite for a strong and secure Czech Republic is the membership of the Czech Republic in the European Union and the North Atlantic Alliance. Among the closest allies is the United States of America.

The President also mentioned the relations with the countries of the Western Balkans and with the states of the so-called Associated Trio, i.e. Ukraine, Moldova, and Georgia, which need a helping hand in connection with their interests in integration into the Euro-Atlantic area. “The enlargement of the European Union is increasingly proving to be not only a geopolitical priority but an existential issue,” he said.

President Pavel wants to intensify relations with the community of geographically more distant democratic states. According to him, the Czech Republic has important allies not only in the Euro-Atlantic area but also in the Indo-Pacific.

He also wishes for a much more honest dialogue with the countries of the so-called Global South.

The president promised to work to support economic diplomacy. According to him, the Czech Republic should continue the tradition of support in the field of human rights.

The President emphasized that the fulfillment of his vision requires a unified and stable foreign policy and public trust in foreign policy.

Meetings of the heads of embassies of the Czech Republic abroad are convened by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic regularly, usually at the end of the summer. Representatives of the Černín Palace speak at the several-day meeting.

Photo: Zuzana Jarolímková, Czech Radio

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 due to take place in Prague in October. During his visit, he granted Czech Radio an exclusive interview.

How important is the Czech Republic among Ukraine’s supporters?

“Top of the top. There is a group of countries that support Ukraine more than anyone else and Czechia definitely belongs to this group. We are extremely grateful. Our cooperation is perfect and we understand that the people of Czechia and the government of Czechia realize that what is at stake in Ukraine is also of vital importance for the security and prosperity of Czechia. So it is a very natural alliance.”

So you say that that is the reason why the Czech Republic and the Czech government are so determined to help Ukraine…

“Yes, I think the reason is the future. Because you understand that without Ukraine’s victory you will be facing much bigger problems caused by Russia. This is why Ukraine must win. But, also, let us be frank, because of history. There is a bill that Czechia and Ukraine have to settle with Russia – all the damage that Russia and its predecessor, the Soviet Union, inflicted on our nations.”

See the rest here.

Authors: Filip Nerad, Daniela Lazarová

Photo: Lenka Žižková, Radio Prague International

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 sold to adults only, under strict conditions.

HHC, CBD and kratom have become increasingly popular of late with sales outlets and vending machines now available virtually in every bigger town and city. The Health Ministry had been ringing alarm bells, demanding a ban on the sale of these products, with the possibility of dispensing psychoactive substances in small quantities on prescription.

However, largely driven by the arguments of the Pirate Party, the government decided to take a more benevolent approach and allow their sale under strict conditions that would enable the state authorities to monitor the quality of these products and register sales outlets.

See the rest here.

Authors: Daniela Lazarová, Pavlína Nečásková, Source:Český rozhlas

Photo: CAMP

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, where they will stop at the buildings Prager designed to learn about their history, which at times is seen as controversial. I spoke with Štěpán Bärtl, head of CAMP, about what’s in store for Saturday, and why we should remember the work of Prager.

“Prager is one of the most famous architects of the 20th century. The reason why CAMP is remembering him and pushing this topic is because CAMP itself is housed in one of his lesser famous buildings called the Prager’s Cubes. We not only wanted to remember that, but also the other important buildings within the centre of Prague, and combine it with running. We came up with this idea to do a run through all the famous buildings by Karel Prager.”

See the rest here.

Author: Amelia Mola-Schmidt

Photo: Tomáš Černý, Czech Radio

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. During the four decades of communist rule people had little access to Western music and tapes of Western hits were smuggled into the country, rerecorded and passed from hand to hand among trusted friends. Inspired by bands like Madness, The Specials or The Selecter, Sto Zvirat was like a breath of fresh air in post-1989 Czechoslovakia. It popularized the then almost unknown genres of ska and rocksteady, and later also reggae and swing.

See the rest here.

Author: Daniela Lazarová, Source:Český rozhlas

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. I spoke to Branislava Marvánová Vargová, head of the government committee for the prevention of domestic violence, to find out what is behind the statistics.

What do these figures actually mean? Do they mean that domestic and sexual violence is on the rise, and if so, why? Or is it just that more people are reporting it?

“That’s a good question, because if we’re talking about administrative data, like police data, for example, we know that the number of cases which are reported is really just the tip of the iceberg in terms of prevalence of domestic violence. So it’s difficult from these numbers to say that the number of cases is rising.

“I would say that there are more cases being reported, or that a higher number of cases being reported are qualifying as a crime of abuse of a person living in the same dwelling. Because there might be a higher number of reported incidents, but they may not necessarily be classified as a criminal act.”

See the rest here.

Author: Anna Fodor

Photo: Czech Television

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 initiatives.

The Roma news website Romea broke the news that Karel Holomek had died on Sunday at the age of 86, describing him as one of the most important members of the country’s Romany community.

Holomek was a man of many activities. In an interview with the Memory of Nations project, he recalled one of them: distributing samizdat literature in the late communist period.

“I found myself among a group of people who were distributing those books. People knew that as a construction site manager I had a service car, and drove from site to site. They knew that was perfect for distributing samizdat, including the magazines Svědectví and Listy, and that I could get it to technical experts. Which I did.”

Holomek also founded a Roma rights organisation, the first in Czechoslovakia, in the1980s. But it was after the fall of communism that he really came into his own.

See the rest here.

Author: Ian Willoughby

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 wants to support this path with her husband, knowing that she cannot substitute legislative processes.

During her visits to the regions, the wife of the President of the Republic often spoke with parents, doctors, and representatives of cities and municipalities about the situation, which may turn into a real crisis in the near future. Areas her interest is the “Healthy Family” concept, therefore she invited representatives of all entities directly affected by ensuring the functioning of primary child care to help her find the cause of existing problems and define steps leading to correction. So, that the Czech Republic does not lose its unique in many ways and, until recently, extremely functional system, in which every child has its own registrar pediatrician who accompanies him until adulthood. This is in most countries, not even economically mature countries, is far from a given.

The roundtable was moderated by a first lady’s content team member, Lilly Ahou Král.

At the round table were:

MD Alena Šebková, chairwoman of the Professional Society of Pediatric Practitioners ČLS JEP and member of the ČLS JEP Board of Directors

MD Ctirad Kozderka, vice-chairman of the Association of General Practitioners for Children and Adolescents of the Czech Republic

professor MUDr. Martin Repko, Ph.D., chairman of the Association of Deans of Medical Faculties of the Czech Republic

MD Irena Maříková MBA, director of the Institute of Postgraduate Education in Healthcare

M.Sc. František Lukl, MPA, chairman of the Union of Towns and Municipalities of the Czech Republic

Ing. Jan Bozděch Ph.D., mayor of Klenčí pod Čerchov

Josef Pavlovic, Bc., Deputy Minister of Health of the Czech Republic

Eva Holečková and Michaela Kopalová members of the content team

The round table discussed the causes of the problems. One of the main ones is the aging of doctors and the lack of new doctors coming into pediatric practice. “Already today, many parents, especially from smaller villages cannot find a doctor for their child who would register them, and they travel tens of kilometers to see him,” emphasized MUDr. Šebkova.

M.Sc. František Lukl, MPA, confirmed that from the point of view of the Association of Towns and Municipalities of the Czech Republic, which he chairs, this is a hot topic. “Primary medical care is an integral part of the infrastructure – in municipalities where job opportunities are decreasing, post offices are being closed and general pediatricians’ offices are disappearing, the quality of life is deteriorating, young people are leaving them for bigger cities and the countryside is depopulates,” stated Mgr. Lukl.

At the round table, it was said that to supplement the capacities and put into practice approx. 1000 missing general pediatricians is not possible from day to day. However, Eva Pavlová asked the present Deputy Minister of Health Josef Pavlovic for his office’s feedback on the possible implementation of the proposed measures and other solutions, which were discussed at the round table and which could be approached immediately.

Pictures : Department of Communication – President office

Photo: Office of Czech Government

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 recover its one-time sphere of influence must be stopped, no matter how costly it is, or how long it takes.

In the past, the annual consultations of Czech diplomats at Czernin Palace tended to revolve around economic diplomacy. This year they revolved mainly around the new security threat stemming from Russia’s expansionist ambitions. Prime Minister Petr Fiala stressed that Czechia must persevere in its efforts to help Ukraine win this war; no matter the cost or time it would take.

See the rest here.

Author: Daniela Lazarová

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 are considered to be the biggest problem currently facing the domestic market and that the number of forgeries, especially of works of modern art, has been on the increase. But how are forgeries uncovered, and how can you test the authenticity of a painting?

Verifying the authenticity of a painting is no easy task, but fortunately, nowadays we have a number of methods at our disposal, says Vítězslav Knotek from the University of Chemistry and Technology. In addition to the expertise of art historians and appraisers, there are also chemical methods.

“We can find out the composition of the pigment used in the painting. Some modern pigments did not exist in the 18th century, for example. And on the basis of that analysis, we can prove that the artist couldn’t have used pigments that were created after his death.”

However, chemical analyses are not preferred in the case of an irreplaceable work, as the analysis requires microscopic samples to be taken from the painting, which damages it and decreases its value. In these cases, X-rays can be used instead to penetrate under the painting and see if it has been painted over, without causing any damage to it.

See the rest here.

Authors: Anna Fodor, Martin Srb, Source:iROZHLAS.cz

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 foodstuffs like milk, sugar, and butter is finally beginning to fall, and that others must follow suit. However, given the country’s dependence on imported products, there is little control over determining food prices due to a lack of internal competition.

I spoke with Dana Večeřová, President of the Czech Food Chamber, about the situation.

To start with, could you give us an overview of the situation with food prices here in Czechia?

“Currently, food prices are beginning to stabilize and price growth is slowing down. The problem with food prices was especially bad last year after the start of the war in Ukraine; the prices of energy, gas, and electric rose sharply. Depending on the type of product, production costs increased by 40 to 80 percent. The cost of agriculture materials needed for processing and packaging also increased, and so did wages. Unfortunately, the Czech Republic had and still has one of the highest energy prices in Europe, which of course has a big impact on the costs in the agriculture and food sector.”

See the rest here.

Author: Amelia Mola-Schmidt

Photo: Barbora Navrátilová, Radio Prague International

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 famous films. We spoke to the program coordinator Martin Rudovský about what’s in store.

Can you tell us about what’s in store tonight at the free concert in the Wallenstein Garden?

“It’s been our tradition since the 1940’s to do this concert in the Wallenstein Garden, but we re-established it again in 2014 with an annual opening of the season. The conductor for this season in the garden is Jan Kučera, and we perform mainly film, opera, and concert music.”

Is there anything interesting to know about the conductor of the show, Jan Kučera?

“He is really exceptional, he’s a completely universal conductor. An arranger, a very good composer, and a very good moderator of the show. He does many shows across the Czech Republic. He’s quite famous and we love him, he has no problem talking, conducting, and composing for these concerts, he’s a really special guy.”

See the rest here.

Photo: Tomáš Mařas, Czech Radio

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 for the festival.

Czech glassblowers are exceptionally skilled craftsmen and in addition to creating breathtaking lights, vases and other glass installations for mansions, luxury yachts and palaces the world over they occasionally try their hand at a special challenge – a music instrument made of glass.

In this case it was an artistic looking Celtic carnyx. Ondřej Glogar is the only musician far-and-wide who knows how to play one. He explains what it is:

“The Celts used this trumpet-like instrument to summon each other to battle, or to communicate with each other in battle. The original instruments weren’t this big. This is 2.2 meters long, usually they were about 1.5 meters, so they would be easier to handle and carry around. Some Celtic warriors had them strapped to their belt together with a sword.”

See the rest here.

Authors: Daniela Lazarová, Tomáš Mařas, Source:Český rozhlas

Photo: Czech Bikes for Gambian Schools

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 new volunteers and expanding its vision. I spoke with Roman about where the project is heading and what inspired him to send bikes to children in Africa.

“It is something that is very much part of my whole life –it is not just about the starting date which was in 2012 when we registered the Bicycles for Africa organization in the Czech Republic. The following year we started sending bicycles to Gambia. But as I said, bicycles have been a big part of my life since childhood.”

See the rest here.

Author: Daniela Lazarová

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 year’s event was “Unity in Diversity: Embracing the Diverse AAU Community”.

Addressing Diversity

In a panel discussion consisting of two alumni and two professors, each panelist described what Unity in Diversity should look like within the university and shared their own personal experiences regarding the topic.

“There are some perspectives that make it a point to silence or exclude other voices that don’t agree with them. That can happen on the extreme right, or on the extreme left. We’ve actually had a problem at AAU where conservative students were made to feel so unwelcome that they left,” Theodore A. Turnau, a professor at AAU pointed out during his speech, opening the panel discussion. “That’s not being a pluriversity that accepts a plurality of different perspectives,” he continued.

Professor Theodore A. Turnau during his speech on Unity in Diversity and how AAU can improve in the future.

The professors and alumni addressed past issues and grievances surrounding diversity in the university, and encouraged various solutions to a more inclusive and unifying approach for the future. A general focus of the panelists was the emphasis on respect for one another, and respect for one another’s differences.

“We have a lot of differences here, a lot of diversity, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t welcome each other. Having a welcoming attitude to people that are different, that’s what it means to live in a pluriversity–a Unity in Diversity; loving each other through our differences,” Turnau concluded.

Work hard, play hard

The event was accompanied by food, drinks and lively activities. Students gathered around a campfire in the courtyard to roast marshmallows and hot dogs, while others played Giant Jenga. The courtyard was eventually filled with students and faculty alike, facilitating discussion and developing connections and relationships. The interactiveness allowed for practiced inclusion among the AAU community in a light hearted and entertaining manner.

The AAU community was entertained with food, drinks, music, and activities.

Community Day was the opening event to a new school year, which began Thursday 31 August. With the values of respect, unity, and open discussion fresh in the minds of students, staff and faculty, AAU can begin the year optimistic about upholding and improving these values in the present and future.

 Text and pictures – Alexa Wandersee

A pile of ice piqued the interest of a herd of female Indian elephants. Tamara the elephant could pay attention to the ice cubes – which she scooped up with her trunk and munched with gusto – for the longest time. In the picture, Tamara stands on the right, Gulab in the middle and the smallest Lakuna on the left. Photo by Petr Hamerník, Prague Zoo

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 American otters, and kea nesters, piles of ice became, in addition to cooling down, an impulse for games and activity.

A four-member group of kea nesters won the most of all animals with ice enrichment. In particular, this year’s two young of these cool-loving parrots licked the cubes and then had fun throwing them into the air. Photo by Tereza Šolcová, Prague Zoo

“The heat is not good for the number of animals or the number of visitors. That is why we are coming up with new ways to cool down the Prague Zoo area in addition to snails and ice cream. Today, we consumed six tons of ice in the zoo,” said the director of the Prague Zoo, Miroslav Bobek. “It cooled both selected animals and visitors.”

A pair of North American otters looked at the ice cubes somewhat timidly at first. However, after a short while, curiosity combined with a taste for the fish lying nearby won, and even the ice provided them with cooling on a hot day. Photo by Oliver Le Que, Prague Zoo

Prague Zoo offers all kinds of refreshments on hot days. In addition to restaurants and ice cream stands, people across the site will find air fresheners, a number of shady seating areas, and air-conditioned pavilions. By purchasing affordable electronic tickets, visitors can also avoid ticket offices and head straight to the turnstiles.

Ice cubes were especially appreciated by younger visitors. Already in the morning, dozens of children came to the pile of ice near the Children’s Zoo to cool off. Photo by Oliver Le Que, Prague Zoo

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 roughly 3,000 crowns to equip a first grader with school supplies required for the year here in Czechia, and in some cases – it can cost even more. Czech stores that sell school supplies, like Globus and Albert, have recorded a ten percent increase on some essential school items.

A survey conducted by Sodexo from the end of July and beginning of August polled Czech parents on what they anticipated to spend on their children’s school supplies, and over 40 percent of parents indicated they expect to spend anywhere from 2,000 to 4,000 thousand crowns.

See the rest here.

Author: Amelia Mola-Schmidt

Photo: Stanislav Callas, Prague Shakespeare Company

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 neighbourhood. We spoke to the director of the show, Guy Roberts, about what’s in store this weekend.

See the rest here.

Author: Amelia Mola-Schmidt

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 public transport rather than hop-on-hop-off buses, being quiet after 10pm, and not littering. But the newest addition to the campaign may raise some eyebrows – posters asking tourists not to pay money to people in the city centre offering the chance to take a selfie with a snake, owl or parrot.

Your first question when you hear about this campaign may be, like mine: “Does this even happen in Prague?” But Barbora Scherf from Prague City Tourism, one of the organisations behind the poster campaign, says that although the problem is smaller-scale and less visible than drunkenness and litter, it is very much there.

See the rest here.

Author: Anna Fodor

Photo: Michaela Říhová, ČTK

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 130 people died during the invasion and thousands fled the country in the years that followed.

See the rest here.

Author:Daniela Lazarová

Photo: Projekt Viskalia

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 Technical University to create a virtual museum of folk architecture in Czechia.

For three years ethnologists studied and digitized collections of old photographs and plans of vernacular architecture from the 19th century to the 1950s. They went through roughly 30,000 photos, plans, and drawings, classifying each building according to regional house types. Where documentation was missing, they had to identify and locate the buildings and in many cases set off to inspect them.

See the rest here.

Author: Daniela Lazarová, source:Český rozhlas

Photo: Czech Tennis Association

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, after a major upset against Aryna Sabalenka in the semifinals on Saturday, the title was within reach. When asked about the loss, Muchová said “when I woke up this morning, the first thing I said was ‘Ouch,’ I knew it was going to be a tough task to win, especially against someone like Coco.” Muchová also cited that she was a little tired coming into the match on Sunday, as the semifinal game was over two and a half hours long the day before.

Despite the loss, Muchová will make her debut in the Top 10 on Monday after fighting up the rankings from outside the Top 150. This makjes her the seventh player from Czechia since 2000 to reach the Top 10.

See the rest here.

Author: Amelia Mola-Schmidt

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 for picnics.

Author: Barbora Navrátilová

See the video here.

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 a major concern to the local industry, which has already seen layoffs. I discussed the situation with Jason Pirodsky of The Prague Reporter.

“The impact has been really immediate, and quite devastating. There were three major Hollywood, or international, [TV series] productions shooting in Prague.

“One of those was The Wheel of Time, which has continued to shoot despite the fact that at least a couple of members of the cast are SAG-AFTRA members. So production on that has continued. I’m not sure if it has been affected in some elements, because of the cast members, but they’re continuing to shoot.

“The other two productions are Interview with the Vampire, for AMC, and Foundation, for Apple TV, and within days of the strike being announced both of those productions shut down completely.

“The impact there was in the range of a few thousand people, who went from having a full-time job to, overnight, not having that job.”

See the rest here.

Author: Ian Willoughby

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 neighbouring nation taking the first place spot. We spoke to Petr Hána who works at Deloitte here in Prague about the market situation.

Czechia is the second most expensive country in Europe right now for real estate, it would take roughly 13 gross annual salaries to buy a property of 70 square meters – what is driving this increase?

“Czechia has been in this position for quite a long time. What is driving this is that we are quite a small market, with one dominant city – Prague, this is where the majority of transactions are taking place on the residential market. To be honest, we have very high price levels compared to other European countries, and also very low wages compared to other European countries.”

See the rest here.

Author: Amelia Mola-Schmidt

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 from the Expat Centre in Prague about what this move means for Czechia and foreigners wishing to relocate to the country.

Could you explain the digital nomad program being launched by the Czech government?

“The new digital nomad program has been launched by the Ministry of Industry, and it’s a program aimed at highly qualified workers, especially in the IT sector. The program is intended for citizens from just a few countries: Australia, Japan, the US, Canada, the UK, and Taiwan. There are two types of nomads who can join the program, it’s either for people who are already working for a foreign company and want to relocate to the Czech Republic, or people who want to work in the Czech Republic but as a self-employed person – so they would possess a trade license in the Czech Republic. The good news about the program is that it’s intended for close family members as well – so spouses and registered partners can join these nomads in the Czech Republic.”

See the rest here.

Author: Amelia Mola-Schmidt

Photo: Jarmila Johnová, Czech Academy of Sciences

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 remarkably, during the days that followed, radio journalists and engineers managed to carry on broadcasting, firstly from the building itself, and then from other secret locations around the city. One of the prominent voices on the airwaves was Jiří Dienstbier, who many years later reflected on the importance of those uncensored broadcasts at a time when the occupiers were trying to sow confusion in the country. To mark the anniversary of the invasion, we return to Jiří Dienstbier and his memories of that time.

See the rest here.

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, especially for jobs like home insulation, solar panel installation and roof renovation.

Libor Vlach is the owner of a Prague-based company that specialises in water, gas and heating installation and repairs. He says that he is fully booked until the end of the year and although customers call practically every day, his firm doesn’t have the capacity to respond to requests for minor repairs or emergency callouts.

And Vlach’s company VIP Instalace is not an exception. According to the online portal ePoptávka.cz, where customers can search for the services they want, demand for tilers increased by almost 7 percent year-on-year in the first half of this year, and the demand for painters by over 12 percent. Otto Kočí, who heads the portal, says that they have seen a huge increase in demand for other kinds of services too.

See the rest here.

Authors: Anna Fodor, Barbora Kladivová, source:iROZHLAS.cz

Photo: Aotearoa Books

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 relative in Prague. It included a long list of names of members of the family who had been murdered in the Nazi death camps. Faced with the unimaginable scale of the tragedy, Lidi burned the letter, and went on with her life in her new country. It was only many decades later that she told her daughter how she regretted destroying it. This inspired Helene to try to piece together her family’s history, to find out who all these family members had been.

See the rest here.

Author: David Vaughan