Morning News: Tuesday, March 7, 2023

The second and final term in office of outgoing Czech President Milos Zeman will end with the ceremonial lowering of the presidential standard at midnight on the evening of Wednesday, 8 March, outgoing Presidential Office head Vladimir Krulis told CTK.

‘Il Boemo’, a film by Petr Vaclav about the life of 18th-century composer Josef Myslivecek, yesterday won the Czech Lion award for the best Czech film of 2022. In total, the film won in six categories out of 11 nominations, also including the award for best director for Vaclav.

Like last year, food prices in the Czech Republic rose faster than the European average at the beginning of this year. According to Eurostat, the prices of food, alcohol, and tobacco products in the Czech Republic rose by 19.6 percent year-on-year in January, while the EU average was 15.5 percent and the eurozone 14.1 percent.

New president Petr Pavel will be sworn in on Thursday March 9 at 2 p.m. by taking the oath of office at a ceremonial meeting of both parliamentary chambers at Prague Castle. The inauguration day will begin at midnight with the lowering of the presidential standard and the closing of Giants’ Gate, which leads to the first courtyard of Prague Castle, as a sign of the vacancy of the presidential office.

The third eastern black two-horned rhinoceros baby to be born in the Dvur Králové Safari Park in the last year came into the world on March 4, the zoo announced on Twitter on Monday. The male rhinoceros was born exactly one year after the first of the three baby rhinos, with the second being born at Christmas.