Since the devastating floods of August 2002, the Prague municipality has invested four billion crowns in the city’s flood protection. Some 20 kilometers of barriers have been built, along with flood gates, and a pumping station. Modifications to rivers and streams in the region have also taken place, returning previously straightened streams to their original beds. Moreover, a new flood wall could protect the Prague Zoo from flooding in the future. The flood, which happened 20 years ago on August 12-15, damaged, among other things, almost two dozen stations of the Prague metro. In total, the flood caused 27 billion crowns in damage in Prague alone, and destroyed dozens of houses. Over 50,000 residents had to be evacuated. The city’s anti-flood measures now include earthen embankments, solid concrete walls and aluminum mobile barriers. The total length of the protection is 19.26 kilometers. Of this, 6.8 kilometers of mobile embankment is made up and its height is from 0.2 to 6.27 meters. Walls are built beneath all barriers, all the way down to the impermeable subsoil, which in some places is up to 12 meters deep. In addition to the barriers along the Vltava, a station with six pumps has been...
Hundreds of firefighters are continuing their efforts to tackle a wildfire that has been burning in the Czech Republic’s Bohemia Switzerland National Park for a week. So far around 1100 hectares have been destroyed. Some 700 emergency service workers are on the scene, including Swedish firefighters who arrived in the Czech Republic on Friday to help using firefighting aircraft. Slovakia, Poland and Italy have also been assisting. A firefighter was seriously injured while working at the fire on Saturday afternoon after he fell off a cliff. A helicopter transported him to the hospital. He is not in life-threatening danger. Two other firefighters were also injured the same day and taken to seek medical attention. According to Martina Gotzová, the spokesperson for the Hradec Kralove region’s fire brigade, they have deployed all the aviation equipment they have to tackle the fires. This includes six helicopters and five aeroplanes. However, there is some optimism. A few areas have been given the all clear and the 500 people who had to evacuate Vysoká Lípa have been allowed to return. The local fire brigade is also making progress in reducing the blazes. In Germany’s nearby Saxon Switzerland natural reserve, authorities are also dealing with fires....
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. The board of the Czech National Bank will most likely decide to keep the base interest rate at 7 percent at a meeting scheduled for next Thursday. However, the situation is hard to call and some predict that a further rise may in fact be announced. The current interest rate is the highest seen in the country since 1999. . The average old-age pension could increase by about CZK 850, regularly indexed from January. With child-raising bonuses, it could total around CZK 19,500. According to the Labour Minister Marian Jurečka, it will be clear in September how much of the added amount should go to the solidarity and merit part of the pension. The Municipal Court in Prague declared bankruptcy on the property of Čezeta Motors. The company produces electric scooters Čezeta in Prostějov and has been in insolvency proceedings since last February due to millions of dollars in debts. The European Commission has approved a multi-year €152 million Interreg program meant to foster cooperation and development between the German state of Saxony...
Fire crews are continuing to battle a blaze in eastern Germany’s Saxon Switzerland national park after the forest fire spread further. Thomas Kunz, spokesman for the regional council of the Saxon Switzerland park, said on Friday that pockets of fire were discovered on Thursday evening and extinguished beyond the Kirnitzsch tributary to the River Elbe, which firefighters had hoped would act as an natural barrier to the fire. More than 220 firefighters were battling the flames in the morning, with additional forces expected to arrive from other parts of the country during the day. Seven firefighting helicopters are deployed with two helicopters carrying out reconnaissance flights with thermal imaging cameras. Two more helicopters will be sent over the weekend to help extinguish the flames, and satellite images will be evaluated. Some 250 hectares of forested area are burning, according to the authorities. A fire in southern Brandenburg, also in the country’s east, is now under control, local authorities said. It prompted the evacuation of around 700 people earlier this week. Rain showers on Saturday were not enough to keep the flames at bay. The fire broke out last weekend in the Bohemian Switzerland national park in the Czech Republic and...
Slovak soldiers will join the international effort to extinguish the fire that’s been raging in the Czech Switzerland National Park. On Thursday in Bratislava, the government approved the dispatch of 30 members of the Slovak Armed Forces for the purpose of humanitarian aid in managing the fires and eliminating their consequences. They will go to the Czech Republic together with a Black Hawk UH-60M helicopter and appropriate equipment. Slovak Defense Minister Jaroslav Naď believes that the situation in Czech Switzerland will be under control within a short time. The Black Hawk helicopter arrived at the deployment site yesterday, July 29. An area of approximately 1,000 hectares is burning in the Czech Switzerland National Park, and Slovak firefighters are already participating in the effort to extinguish it, who were sent along with a helicopter provided by the Interior Ministry. Five helicopters and eight helicopters are also being used to combat the fire, which has been contained to a certain area in the national park. At one point smoke from the fire could be smelled in Prague and other parts of Czechia. Officials say human carelessness appears the most likely cause. The weather, especially the changing direction of the wind, has complicated...
For Czechs, buying used goods has typically been taboo and while second-hand stores aren’t uncommon, few people readily admit to shopping in them. “People usually share their enjoyment of shopping for second-hand clothes only with a circle of family and close friends,” concluded a 2019 study on Czech shopping habits, authored by the analyst Marketa Rulikova. “Not wearing brand new (and brand-named) garments also suggests, for many Czechs, an inability to provide for the family, a too familiar distress remembered from the socialist past.” But the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, topped by spiralling inflation and energy prices, has led to a second-hand shopping spree. “We have never had such takings as in these past few months,” says Monika van den Berg, of Moment Czech Republic, an NGO that runs several second-hand, charity shops across the country. Second-hand sales have increased threefold nationwide since last year, the Association of Social Responsibility, an industry body, told local media earlier this month. What’s changed? Some think it’s taste. Czechs are increasingly eco-conscious while buying second-hand often means quality. “We think that the boom is partly caused by our offer,” says van den Berg. “We sell clothing of the best quality and...
Czech Republic police have confiscated a Ferrari 458 from criminals and revamped it into a police car that can drive up to 202 miles per hour. The car will aid police in fighting crime nationwide, or potentially even abroad. Police who have undergone special training will be operating the car. Before its seizure, the 2011 Ferrari 458 Italia (Type F142) originally had a racing red color. However, the car has now been revamped with stripes of blue and yellow paint over a gray base, with new flashing lights mounted on the car roof. “It used to serve criminals, now it will protect Czech roads. What are we talking about? Today, a new special in the colors of the Police of the Czech Republic—Ferrari F 142 – 458 Italia—begins its service,” police said in a statement. “The vehicle will be deployed against the most aggressive drivers on Czech highways, when chasing stolen vehicles or during surveillance at the locations of reported tuning events.” Due to being a formerly criminal asset, the Ferrari was bought by the Czech police for a price much cheaper than market value. “This vehicle is one of many seized as criminal property each year,” said police. “Thanks to the excellent work of our...
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. Two Czech citizens have been found dead in the French Alps. The French police found their bodies around noon on Thursday at the bottom of an approximately 30-meter-deep crack on the north face of the Barre des Écrins, the highest mountain in the Dauphiné Alps, at an altitude of approximately 3,900 meters. . Four new cases of monkeypox were recorded in Prague on Thursday, the second highest number in one day so far. This brings the total number of confirmed cases in the Czech Republic up to 20. The increase in the sum for film incentives, as anchored in the draft amendment to the Czech state budget for 2022, will continue in 2023 and 2024, with the cap of 150 million crowns per film, which means a chance for more projects, Culture Minister Martin Baxa told media today. PM Petr Fiala bestowed the Karel Kramar Medal, the Czech prime minister’s award, on the outgoing Ukrainian ambassador Yevhen Perebyinis today. Perebyinis became the ambassador to the Czech Republic in 2017. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy dismissed him from the post a few weeks...
A large wildfire on the German-Czech border is spreading and threatening to destroy a forested national park popular with tourists. The fire in the region called Bohemian Switzerland on the Czech side and the Saxon Switzerland National Park on the German side, which started at the weekend, had seemed to be under control but spread again early on Thursday, German news agency dpa reported. Hundreds of firefighters on both sides of the border, with help from neighbouring Poland and Slovakia, were battling the flames, while local authorities warned tourists to stay away. About 250 hectares of forest are currently burning and eight firefighting helicopters were helping to douse the flames, dpa reported. Another large forest fire in the Elbe-Elster district in the eastern German state of Brandenburg also flared up again on Wednesday evening, local authorities said. Fire brigades have been on the scene since Sunday with officials saying the wildfire, which has led to evacuations and the destruction of some homes, was most likely caused by human carelessness. Earlier in the week smoke from the fire could be smelled over large parts of the Czech Republic, including Prague, which is 100 kilometres away from the national park. Germany’s minister...
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. The Czech government has rubberstamped the deployment of Czech Army soldiers in foreign operations until 2024, the minister of defence, Jana Černochová, said on Twitter on Wednesday. The plan includes sending 1,200 troops to NATO’s eastern border. . A centre providing tents to Ukrainian refugees in the Prague district of Malešice is closed from Wednesday. The facility has been merged with another tent city in the Troja district, which has a capacity of around 250. The move follows a decline in the number of war refugees from Ukraine in Czechia. The Senate has approved a savings tariff to help households reduce their electricity, gas, and heating bills. The government will set the details of the tariff, i.e., how much the subsidy will be and who will be entitled to it, in August at the latest. The World Health Organisation has issued the highest level risk alert for monkeypox, with the highest risk in Europe. Speaking to Czech Radio, Health Ministry spokesman Ondrej Jakob said that In the coming days, the European Union will...
Slovakia, Poland and Italy have offered to send firefighting aircraft to the Czech Republic to help the country to contain a large forest fire in a national park. Currently, 410 firefighters from 83 units are fighting the fire in the Bohemian Switzerland National Park near the town of Hrensko, the country’s Fire Rescue Service (FRS CR) said on Tuesday. Four helicopters and two airplanes are also helping on site. “Within the framework of the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, we requested three Canadair aircraft and two helicopters to manage the forest fire in Hrensko. Poland responded with an offer of a helicopter,” the Fire Rescue Service said in a tweet, adding that Slovakia and Italy also responded to “our request for help with aerial firefighting.” The forest fire, which broke out on Sunday, started spreading on Monday due to windy weather and it even crossed the country’s border with Germany. So far, it has affected an area of about 30 hectares in the park, according to local media reports. Local residents and tourists have been evacuated. No casualties have been reported. Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said after he visited the park on Tuesday that the fire was raging in a...
If natural gas supplies were interrupted, breweries would only be able to produce and sell a limited amount, said Zdeněk Kovář, a spokesman for Plzeňské Prazdroje. According to him, the interruption of gas supplies would have a major impact on the entire brewing industry, including suppliers. Prazdroj is the largest brewery in the Czech Republic and uses gas in malthouses and breweries. Gas accounts for roughly 40 percent of the energy used for the production of beer and malt. According to Kovář, Prazdroj’s long-term strategy is to reduce the consumption of natural gas and replace it with renewable sources. “If there was a complete reduction in gas supplies, including reserves, it would have a major impact on the entire brewing industry, including our suppliers. We would be able to produce and sell in limited quantities,” the spokesperson added. Concerns about a stoppage of Russian gas supplies persist due to geopolitical tensions. The main route for the supply of Russian gas to the EU is the Nord Stream 1 pipeline. Gas deliveries through this pipeline increased to 40 percent of the pipeline’s capacity on Thursday, the same level as before the start of the 10-day maintenance of the facility. Fears that...
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