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The minister of industry and trade, Jozef Síkela, told an annual gathering of diplomats in Prague on Monday that Czechia aimed to be a leader in the post-war renewal of Ukraine. The minister said that Ukraine had prepared a document outlining the repair of critical infrastructure that will be required.
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German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is due to make a one-day visit to Prague next Monday, August 29. It will be his first trip to the Czech capital since becoming Germany’s leader in December.
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This year, the State Agricultural and Food Inspection Authority (SZPI) has revealed exceptionally high proportions of substandard ice cream and ice in drinks. In interim checks carried out until mid-August, 56 percent of ice cream samples and 75 percent of ice samples failed.
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Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala starts his regular round of visits to the ministries to assess their work on Tuesday, beginning with the Transport Ministry headed by ODS deputy chairman Martin Kupka. A visit to the Education Ministry headed by Vladimr Balas will follow.
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The first military helicopters being donated by the United States to the Czech army may arrive in the Czech Republic by the end of 2023. The helicopters are currently located in Hawaii, Czech Defence Minister Jana Cernochova told journalists on Friday.
“It is not permissible for the elderly to spend 100 percent of their time in spaces at 20°C and below,” states Daniela Lusková, vice-president of the Association of Social Service Providers.
The proposed regulation of the Czech Ministry of Industry and Trade, according to which schools, hospitals, and households will have to reduce their temperature by up to six degrees Celsius due to the energy crisis, is causing outrage.
The operators of homes for the elderly criticized the draft legislation because, according to them, the proposed temperatures are too low for older people.
The proposed regulation includes a temperature reduction in the bathrooms and rooms of these facilities from 24 to 20 degrees. The ministry defends itself by saying the proposers consulted with health professionals.
“It is not permissible for the elderly to spend 100 percent of their time in spaces at 20°C and below. It is life-threatening to bathe frail seniors in a room heated to only 20 °C when they get cold quickly,” said Daniela Lusková, vice-president of the Association of Social Service Providers.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade responded to the daily Právo’s question regarding how the temperatures in the draft regulation were set, referring the editors to the Ministry of Health.
“The changes were based on professional scientific and health publications, and legal regulations already in force in, for example, Germany, Austria, and the UK,” said Ondřej Jakob, spokesman for the Ministry of Health.
“This is a recommendation. The proposals are set as minimum temperatures,” said Jakob when asked why, for example, the newly recommended temperature in gyms is 17 degrees instead of the original 15 degrees, and asked how the government will respond to associations’ comments that the temperature for retirement homes is too low.
The first comments have already appeared in the comment procedure, which runs until Aug. 19. For example, the employers’ organization states that social service facilities predominantly care for persons with an average age of 86 years with a high degree of dependence on the care of another person. It demands that the status quo be maintained.
“The social services facility heats the rooms in winter in such a way as to ensure the thermal comfort of the elderly. In any case, it exceeds 20°C in rooms and common areas and 24°C in bathrooms,” the comment states.
In connection with the regulation, the Civic Association of Homeowners in the Czech Republic stated that it is not clear how owners should verify the temperature. In addition, tenants have the right to undisturbed use of their apartments.
However, the Ministry of Industry and Trade stated that the regulation does not include new controls. According to the current law, the State Energy Inspectorate may carry out any inspections. Apartment owners can contact this institution with a complaint about a low or high temperature. In such a case, the institution will turn to the owner of the building, who is responsible for the correct setting, the ministry specified.
If your day doesn’t start until you’re up to speed on the latest headlines, then let us introduce you to our new morning fix.
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Events were held in many places in Czechia on Sunday marking the 54th anniversary of the Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia on the night of August 20 to 21, 1968. A number of Czech politicians drew parallels between events of that time and Russia’s ongoing war against Ukraine.
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Czechia plans to continue supplying military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine, the country’s prime minister, Petr Fiala, said on Sunday after a ceremony marking the 54th anniversary of the Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia. Mr. Fiala told reporters that Czechia wished to help repair damage to schools, hospitals and other facilities.
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Around half of the regions in Czechia are planning to increase fares on their public transport systems. Prague does not intend to raise fares at present, though running the city’s transport system will cost an extra CZK 1 billion in the next year.
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The Czech Republic has granted temporary protection visas to 415,691 Ukrainian refugees since the war in Ukraine started in February, with 4,116 visas issued over the past seven days, 69 more than the week before, the Interior Ministry has said on Twitter.
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The first military helicopters being donated by the United States to the Czech army may arrive in the Czech Republic by the end of 2023. The helicopters are currently located in Hawaii, Czech Defence Minister Jana Cernochova told journalists on Friday.
Czech nationals have been sending exactly 1,968 crowns to Ukraine to help it defend itself against Russia and to commemorate the 1968 invasion of then Czechoslovakia by Soviet-led troops, the Ukrainian embassy said on Sunday.
Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine, which has killed thousands, forced millions to flee and caused damage worth billions of dollars, enters its seventh month next week.
The Czechs were using a special payment code to donate 1,968 crowns to an already existing account set up by Ukraine’s embassy in the Czech Republic to collect funds.
“Even at the weekend, dozens and dozens of payments in the value of 1,968 crowns are arriving to our account, thank you so much, Czech friends!” the embassy said on Twitter.
Early on August 21, 1968, around 250,000 soldiers, 2,000 tanks, and hundreds of aircraft from the Soviet Union, Bulgaria, Hungary, and Poland rumbled into Czechoslovakia. Just 29 years after the nightmare of the Nazi invasion, Czechs and Slovaks once again awoke to foreign troops on their soil.
Within hours, First Secretary Dubcek had been seized from his Prague offices (pictured in background) and flown to Moscow for interrogation.
Bewildered Czechs and Slovaks erupted to challenge the invading soldiers — many of whom were as uninformed as the locals — on the streets.
Although Czechoslovak troops remained on their bases, residents in some cases erected barricades, swapped street signs, or even attacked the invading armies with Molotov cocktails. But they were overmatched, and Czechoslovaks’ best hope seemed to lie in the mounting chorus of condemnation from the outside world.
The most famous street battle was fought outside Czechoslovak Radio headquarters in the capital. Fifteen people died in the clash as crowds tried to prevent troops from taking control of the broadcaster.
Some 137 civilians were killed in the invasion, as Warsaw Pact troops stamped out independent media and set the stage for Soviet-led efforts to “normalize” the situation in Czechoslovakia.
As Czechoslovaks cleared their streets of blood and wreckage, Brezhnev declared Soviet readiness to intervene militarily if any other communist nation veered from the party line. Or, as one writer described the so-called Brezhnev Doctrine, “Workers of the world, unite or I’ll shoot.”
The Czech Republic has the most handsome man in the world: Dominik Chabr won an international beauty contest in Bali.
Czech’s Dominik Chabr was named Man of the World 2022 at the finals night of the 4th Annual Man of the World pageant held in Bali on Sunday.
The second, third and fourth runner-up titles went to Bogdan Iusypchuk of Ukraine, Lee Jooyong of the Republic of Korea, and Pablo Gallego of Spain respectively.
“Immediately afterward we talked on the phone, he was excited and moved. I wish him the best, he worked hard all year. For us, it is a great honor to win another international victory. The last Czech who brought home the gold from the Mr. Global competition in 2016 was Tomáš Martinka, by coincidence also from Most. Probably the nicest guys are born there,” the president of the Man of the Year competition, David Novotný, beamed with satisfaction.
Dominik had originally planned to stay in Bali for another week after the final and enjoy his vacation.
In 2019, another Czech, Jakub Jurčák, was 3rd runner-up and won Best in Beach Wear.
Man of the World is an international male beauty pageant that began in 2017 that brings forth advocacy, which gives an emphasis on the importance of education and career development.
The pageant is organized by the Prime Event Productions Philippines Foundation (PEPPs) which also organizes the annual Misters of Filipinas pageant.
Man of the World Pageant is considered one of the “Big 6” international male beauty pageants along with Mister World, Mister International, Manhunt International, Mister Supranational, and Mister Global.
Four years ago, Czech photographer Martin Škrabalek prepared an interesting project on the occasion of the anniversary of the entry of Warsaw Pact troops into Czechoslovakia.
He combined archival photographs of Prague, taken in the early days of the invasion, with footage of the modern city.
A company from the Czech Republic is hoping to use 3D printing to rebuild damaged infrastructure in Ukraine.
ICE Industrial Services is a technology company based in the Moravian town of Žďár nad Sázavou, which focuses on designing and building new automation machines and lines. In recent years, it has also been exploring the possibilities of 3D-printed concrete.
The company has already delivered an anti-tank shelter to the war-hit country and is now discussing ways to build houses, hospitals, and schools.
Digital printing with concrete makes building work faster, offers greater flexibility, and can save about 70% in materials.
“We will try to use this technology to make civil infrastructure defense installations and also for schools or even for bus and tram stations. In the first stage, we intend to build bomb shelters”, said the director of the company Valerii Gruganovski.
“The technology is brought to a special platform, on which a 3D printer is installed together with all the auxiliary devices necessary during the process, which then translates the three-dimensional digital model into reality,” said the engineer of the Czech company, Marec Zloc.
This installation can build a complete off-grid house with several living rooms equipped with solar panels and a central heating system. They can be executed in numerous variations and can be positioned on any terrain.
It is only a matter of time before the first ones using this technology will be built in Ukraine.
Prague will celebrate Oktoberfest twice this autumn, with four-day events planned in both Vysočany and Holešovice next month.
Vysočan Oktoberfest will go first from the 14th to the 17th of September at Permanent Pragovka beer garden in Prague 9, followed by the Holešovice festival from September 21st to 24th at Food Truck Point in Prague 7.
The third edition of the annual festival will feature six traditional Bavarian beers on tap such as Hofbräu Dunkel, Paulaner, and Löwenbrau as well as several Festbiers including from Germany’s oldest brewery: Weihenstephaner.
Typical bavarian food will also be served, with pretzels, radishes, Bavarian sausages, and burgers on offer. Visitors are encouraged – but not required – to come in traditional Bavarian fancy dress.
You will also be able to taste Festbiers, for example from the oldest German brewery Weihenstephaner.
“There will be typical Bavarian delicacies such as pretzels, radishes, and spread Obatzda or Bavarian sausages. In addition, of course, our traditional large and hearty Burgers. So smeckt Bayern!,” says one of the organizers.
“Stylishly dressed welcome. Look in your wardrobes and wear something Bavarian. We open every day at three, we close at 10 pm,” he adds.
Permanent Pragovka in Vysočany is the largest craft beer garden in central Europe and is situated in a former factory, which organisers say “may remind one of a space in Berlin or Budapest.” The location is 200 metres from Kolbenova metro station on line B (yellow).
Food Truck Point in the Holešovice Prague Market (Pražská tržnice) is easily accessible with the Vltavská metro line C (red) stop.
Entry is free and the events will be open each day between 3 and 10 pm.
Czechs have a lot of sayings and some about themselves. Here are three of them and we will not only explain what they mean but also where they come from.
Golden Czech Hands (Zlaté české ručičky)
Zlaté české ručičky or Golden Czech Hands refers to the ability of the Czech people to make anything themselves. Need electricity installed in your house?
No problem, the uncle can do it! Need some furniture built? Don’t call the professionals, we will figure it out! This about illustrates the attitude many Czechs have towards making things they need instead of leaving it to the professionals.
Not that they would distrust them, this habit comes from the 40 years of communism where even simple things were scarce and people had to figure things out on their own. We are talking about relatively recent times which many Czechs still remember so they are not only used to making things themselves but are also really good at it.
Every Czech is a musician (Co Čech to muzikant)
Czech festivities have always been accompanied by lots of music. Previously no professional bands were being hired, the village people were always responsible for this irreplaceable part of every harvest feast, Christmas or hody. The instruments as well as the ability to play them were passed from generation to generation. And even today it is a very common thing to play one or more musical instruments.
The elementary school curriculum contains several mandatory music classes every week and many children go to music classes after school. The Czech Republic has a very unique network of state art schools with three main directions to choose from – plastic arts, music and dance. The classes are subsidized by the state and cost very little so that everyone can afford them.
The classes take place after school and they count as official music education. Children can enroll at the age of 5 – 7 years and the whole studies take 7 + 4 years. Whether the children choose an instrument or singing, there is always a mandatory music theory class every week to accompany the studies.
Whoever doesn’t jump isn’t Czech, jump, jump, jump! (Kdo neskáče, není Čech, hop, hop, hop!)
This young saying originated at the ice-hockey matches the Czechs are so passionate about. It’s the Czech way of cheering for their favorite team. See for yourself:
The seventh annual Beer and Burger (‘Pivo a Burger’) Festival will return to Karlínské náměstí on September 11, from 11 am.
A total of 25 burger stands will be operating throughout the day, including many of the Czech favorite food trucks and burger joints.
You can taste burgers from several Karlin restaurants but also some of Prague’s highest-rated burgers, like, Kaiser Franz, Hell Smoke, Take Eat Ez, Diego Pivni Bar, Zelva, and many others.
You can find the full list of participants here.
The best domestic breweries will also offer bottom-fermented beers: 23 craft brewers from Prague and across the Czech Republic, including favorites like Matuška, Clock, Raven, Albrecht, and many more, with over 100 beers on offer.
Admission to the event is free. However, to taste beers, it is necessary to buy a tasting glass for CZK 100.
Visitors can also have a bowl of soup from Karlín Polévkárna or a glass of wine from the Kubík winery, churros and coffee from the FairBio roastery. Live music will be provided by SCHODISTE and IGLÚ and DJ Jakobeen.
Another news of this edition will be the busker stage, where basically everyone can play.
The fourth season of Sky series Das Boot directed by Dennis Gansel is currently shooting in Czech Republic’s capital with Stillking Films providing services.
At the beginning of August 2022, the Czech Government approved CZK 570 milion for film incentives, which will add to the CZK 800 milion decided in the original draft budget. Additional support is expected in 2023 and 2024.
Das Boot is one of the longest international productions shooting in the Czech Republic. All the previous seasons of the series have been shot in Prague since 2017.
The shooting has largely taken place at the Barrandov Studio, where the submarine set was dismantled and rebuilt for production on each season. This week the filming also took place near Old Town Square.
Shooting in the Czech Republic started in June 2022. The premiere is set for 2023 on Sky One.
The series is a sequel to the feature film Das Boot (1981), whose director Wolfgang Petersen died on 12 August 2022.
Das Boot is based on the real-life experiences of war correspondent Lothar-Günther Buchheim, who fictionalized his experience on a German U-boat for the 1975 book of the same name.
Across its first three seasons, Das Boot has featured international stars such as Vicky Krieps (Corsage, The Phantom Thread), Lizzy Caplan (Cloverfield, Masters of Sex), Vincent Kartheiser (Mad Men), and James D’Arcy (Cloud Atlas). Season three contained a featured role for Ray Stevenson (Punisher: War Zone) as a Royal Navy commander tracking down the titular German U-boat.
The TV serie has been broadcast on Sky TV in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, Austria, Italy, and Switzerland, and can be streamed on Sky services where available.
While Das Boot streamed on Hulu in the United States, it is not streaming on Disney+, which carries Hulu content in the Czech Republic.
Prague is one of the most beautiful cities on the planet. And music video directors know how photogenic it can be. Therefore, it is no surprise that a number of music videos for the songs of the biggest pop music stars have been filmed in Prague’s streets, as well as in other notorious locations.
The Charles Bridge was recently named the sixth most beautiful monument in the world, and the beauty of our metropolis could be admired by viewers of the streaming giant Netflix’s recently released most expensive film Grey Man, as well as the Oscar-winning Amadeus (although it featured Vienna).
Rihanna – Don’t Stop The Music
Don’t be fooled by the American-looking taxi pulling up to the curb at the beginning of the clip. And take a good look at the tram that’s following it. It’s even easy to see what location it is. Namely the intersection of Bělehradská Street and Tylovo náměstí above I. P. Pavlova, which is also the location of the club where this clip of Rihanna was filmed in 2009.
Of course, we are talking about the club Radost FX, its interior has always been so distinctive that it is still safely recognizable from the clip years later. The cameraman is an Englishman living in Prague, who described that filming the scene during which he was locked in the ladies’ toilets with the singer for several hours is one of the most interesting work experiences of his career after all these years.
INXS – Tear Us Apart / New Sensation
You may know that the Australian band INXS filmed a video in Prague, but did you also know that they filmed two videos here? They are the ballad Tears Us Apart and the hit song New Sensation, both of which come from their famous 1987 breakthrough album Kick.
Prague was a grey and neglected city compared to today, but even the “care” of forty years of communism couldn’t completely erase its historical beauty and unique charm. And for a band from the other side of the planet trying to make it in Europe, it was not only exotic but also cheap. In particular, the video for the romantic ballad Never Tear Us Apart was filmed around the Charles Bridge, in the Lesser Town, and also in the Jewish cemetery in Josefov.
Kanye West & Jay-Z – No Church In The Wild
The music video for the song No Church In The Wild by American rapper Kanye Wes and his colleague Jay-Z, which was released on their 2012 album Watch The Throne, was really lavish. For the clip, some of Prague’s streets were literally turned into a war zone, plagued by fighting reminiscent of protests during the International Monetary Fund meetings.
In the locations, it is easy to recognize the Legion Bridge, leading across Střelecký ostrov to the National Theatre. Some of the scenes are filmed around Jan Palach Square near Rudolfinum. The author of the clip is the famous director of Greek-French origin Romain Gavras, who made similarly famous and controversial clips for artists such as Justice or M.I.A.
Primal Scream – Jailbird
This is a video clip in which, with a bit of luck, you might find yourself, provided you were at the 1993 concert of the Scottish indie rock band Primal Scream in Prague’s Lucerna Music Bar. The footage from that performance is mixed in the video for the song Jailbird from their 1994 album Give Out But Don’t Give Up with footage of the band playing, which was filmed in England. Either way, the mid-nineties was a time when Primal Scream were at their absolute peak of popularity. It was a great time then, wasn’t it?
Thom Yorke – Anima
The frontman of Radiohead (and currently also of the side project The Smile) went undercover to Prague in 2019 to shoot a music video. The director of the clip was none less than one of the most important directors of our time, the American filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson, author of such seminal films as Sinful Nights, Magnolia and Up For Blood.
Anima was shot in the Prague metro, and the revolving turnstiles that Yorke wrestles with at the end of the clip were installed specifically for the video.
R.E.M. & Patti Smith – E-Bow The Letter
The American band R.E.M. had some bad luck with Prague. Three of their concerts in a row were cancelled at the last minute for various reasons, but they still loved Prague.
Especially the frontman Michael Stipe has a personal relationship to our capital city, but also to the Czech Republic because it is well known that shortly before the release of their breakthrough album Out Of Time, he traveled around the Czech Republic for several days and visited Olomouc.
In Prague, R.E.M. also played at the Anděl awards ceremony, which took place in 1999 at the Trade Fair Palace. And they made a special tribute to Prague in the video of their joint song with rock singer-songwriter Patti Smith. It was released in 1996 on their album New Adventures In Hi-Fi.
Simply Red – Your Eyes
Prague’s Main Railway Station is also very photogenic. For example, it was featured in the music video for Gwen Stefani’s Early Winter in 2009. And it can also be seen in the epic video for the song Your Eyes by the British soul band Simply Red from 2000.
However, as has happened many times in the past, Prague substitutes for another city or another country in the video. Russia, or Moscow. The clip is set during World War II and features Simply Red frontman Mick Hucknal running through the halls and stairs of Prague’s historic Main Station building, which was inscribed with Cyrillic lettering.