The Roads and Motorways Directorate and the Railway Infrastructure Administration have received orders from the minister of transport, ANO appointee Dan Ťok, to inspect bridges built from the 1960s to the 1980s in the Czech Republic. Concerns have been sparked by the collapse of the Morandi Bridge in the Italian city of Genoa, which was constructed in the mid-1960s. Of the 1,000 or so Czech bridges due for inspection around 600 are road bridges and the remainder carry trains. The minister has also called on the country’s regional authorities, which are responsible for second and third-class roads, to send out inspectors. Six of country’s first class road bridges have already been found to be in a calamitous state. They have been closed and await repair or demolition. Over 350 railway bridges have been repaired but none are judged to be in a calamitous state. The state has earmarked CZK 1.5 billion for the modernization of bridges this year. Author: red
It took an international “constellation of coincidences,” in Steve Hiniker’s words, to bring his lost wallet home to Wisconsin, USA. The man lost his wallet in the Czech Republic while traveling by bicycle from Athens to Oslo. It was May 25 and Steve was buying some power bars and other supplies from a grocery market in Litomerice, 70km from Prague. He paid and then absent-mindedly left the wallet on the counter. He and his wife, Mary Ellen Vollbrecht, who are enjoying lots of biking together in retirement, rode 120 km before Steve discovered the loss. “I called the police department and they didn’t understand what I was saying and they didn’t speak English. I called the visitor’s bureau and they didn’t speak English. I went back to Google and found that the store wouldn’t be open again until Monday,” which was a couple days away, Steve said. So they rode on, but with the deflating awareness that the wallet contained debit and credit cards, which they canceled, his driver’s license and more than $300 in Euros and Czech currency. “In the back of my head, I thought people are pretty honest. I wouldn’t be surprised if I get home and find this in the...
Prague City Hall has approved a 50% discount on trams, buses and the metro for students under 26 years and retirees over 65 years. Annual passes for those groups will be cut to 1,280 crowns a year if paid in a lump sum, about half the current amount. To obtain the benefits, passengers will have to show their identity card (for retirees) or a student card at the cashier’s desk. Prague Mayor Adriana Krnáčová (ANO) supported the rate cut for students and was one of the key promoters of the cut for adults in 2015. Opposition TOP 09 representatives, however, called the proposal a populist move. The city is having elections in October. The Pirates also opposed it, saying the planned Kč 350 million cost of the discount could be better spent on teachers’ salaries or infrastructure. In June, Deputy Mayor Petr Dolínek (ČSSD), responsible for transportation, made the proposal that would have allowed students to pay the annual pass Kč 365. Author: red
Police say the possession of firearms has risen in the Czech Republic last year. In 2017, the number of firearms permits increased to 303,000. That is 2,700 more than in 2016 and an increase of 11,000 compared with 2015. Fears over terror attacks, immigration, and personal assaults have caused the surge, Czech police say. The total number of guns, rifles and other firearms kept at home by Czechs has risen to around 850,000. That is an increase of 13.3%, or 100,000 compared to five years ago. Author: red
Czechs are drinking less beer, with exceptions in some categories. The Czech Republic has been the world’s leader in beer consumption for as long as the independent country has existed. But the Czech world leadership in beer consumption is slowing down. While in 2004 the average daily consumption was over 400 half-liters per year, last year that figure was less than 300 half liters. Exceptions to this trend are non-alcoholic beers and flavored beers (radlers), both of which are increasingly preferred by the younger generation. At least half of Czechs men and women are on occasion open “pito,” the slang name for a non-alcoholic beer. These conclusions come from the sixth year of the KPMG survey on domestic shopping habits. Read the full article here (via Prague.TV)
Three Czech NATO soldiers were killed and one U.S. service member was injured Sunday morning during a suicide attack in Afghanistan, according to multiple reports. The Czech military has confirmed that the three killed were its service members. Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš took to Twitter to remember the fallen soldiers as “heroes,” per the BBC. “Their sacrifice will endure in both our hearts and history, and further strengthen our resolve,” U.S. Army Gen. John Nicholson, Resolute Support and U.S. Forces-Afghanistan commander, added in a written statement. Local officials said the blast happened in the Khalazai area of Charikar, capital of Parwan province. Wahida Shahkar, spokeswoman for the Parwan provincial governor, said the suicide bomber targeted foreign forces who were on a routine foot patrol. The Taliban have claimed responsibility for the attack as militants are fighting for the restoration of strict Islamic law, a spokesman told Reuters. Author: red
A 41-year-old tourist from the Czech Republic was killed by a shark on Friday 3 August, reports local Czech media. The Czech man who was swimming off the coast of Marsa Alam was attacked and killed by a shark. The man was reportedly holidaying in the popular Red Sea resort town with his wife and children through a travel agency identified as Exim Tours. A spokesperson for Exim Tours said that the attack was unusual and that the deceased’s family hopes to return to the Czech Republic as soon as possible. Reports of the attack first emerged on Friday evening, when a part of an unidentified body was located off the coast of a resort in Marsa Alam. It remains unclear where the man was staying and whether he was swimming alone. According to the Czech Republic’s Foreign Ministry, local Egyptian police are investigating the attack. This is not the first shark attack in Egypt. Shark attacks in 2015, 2010, 2009, and 2004 have killed a total of three people and injured five others. Author: red
This week’s temperatures will hit above 30°C and on Wednesday will be the hottest day of the week. By lunchtime, thermometer columns rise up to 32-37°, but during the evening – especially in the western regions – rains are expected. Thursday should be partly cloudy and the heat will drop to 27-31° C. Similar weather is expected on Friday, when in the afternoon the air will warm up to 26-30° C. Saturday will be partly cloudy to cloudy. The temperature during the day will be 29-31°C, 19-21°C at night. Sunday will be partly cloudy with occasional showers. Temperatures will be around 30-32°C during the day, 16-18°C at night. Author: red
According to a Harvard University study conducted between 2002 and 2015, Czechs are among the most racist people in Europe. According to experts, this is caused by the fact that during their decades of isolation from the outside world, the inhabitants of what are today the formerly communist countries either never or only rarely came into contact with foreign nationals who looked different or who practiced different cultural customs, and even today they encounter them only exceptionally in their everyday lives on a personal basis. Another role is said to be played by the fact that we are all “infected” by prejudice starting in childhood which then resonates throughout the society-wide discourse. This study involved 144,000 Europeans and the poll was only answered in English online. According to the critics, this was not a representative sample and, moreover, contained too many instructive questions. “If the survey is answered by educated people who speak English, it means that the reality will be even worse,” said Psychologist Jeroným Klimeš. Statistics also show the rise of extremism that affects the views of the Czech Republic. In 2017, 334 extremist events took place in the Czech Republic, 26 more than a year earlier. This result has...
Rain has become rare due to global warming and climate change. Long periods of drought and no rain starts to have a negative effect on soil and harvest. The worst situation is in Zlín, Central Moravia, and eastern Bohemia. “Year 2018 is another of the dry years that we are experiencing regularly since 2012,” comments Pavel Zahradníček, a climatologist at the Institute for Global Change Research, Academy of Sciences. The worst of all was in 2015, especially during the months of July and August when more than four-fifths of the country was negatively impacted by the weather. “In recent years, drought has become a big problem, it’s not just a media bubble,” says Zahradníček. “And the prediction in the future clearly speaks that dry periods will grow and become more intense.” According to experts, the main reason is the increased air temperature, which causes more dry landscapes. This spring also made history, as it became the second warmest in 244 years. “Another cause is the dry winter of recent years,” notes Milan Šálek, a meteorologist from Amper Meteo. In short, the country needs more heavy snow, which has not recently been happening. This year’s drought, according to the Czech Statistical Office, will be reflected...
The night from Sunday to Monday in the Czech Republic was unusually cool with temperatures ranging around five degrees Celsius, said Czech Hydrometeorological Institute (CHMI) on Monday. Seven stations reported July 2 as the coldest night of the entire month of July for the country. The average temperature in the Czech Republic at night dropped to 4.8 degrees Celsius, with no significant differences among the regions. The cold front came from the north to the Czech Republic over the last weekend. The lowest temperature measured at two meters above ground Sunday night was at Jeleni stations in the Ore Mountains range, wherein the thermometer showed minus 5.7 degrees Celsius. The lowest temperature in the Czech mainland was measured by meteorologists at Luční bouda station in the Giant Mountains, where was minus 8.1 degrees. Author: red
Labyrinths cut out in large maize fields have become a new tourist attraction, mainly for families with children, in the Czech Republic. They were opened by the Fit-Jump company, that now operates 25 maize mazes in the country. The aim of the project is to make children move. Besides, this is an interesting opportunity for farmers to use maize fields before the harvest. The maze operators address families with children, schools, and kindergartens as well as companies that may use the maize labyrinths during team building events. “Out of the original 30 mazes, we have 25 left and this week we will close another in the South Moravia Region,” firm executive Radek Skacel said. The most popular maize labyrinths are in Hradec Králové, Opava, and Pisek. Those in big cities, such as Brno and mainly the capital of Prague, paradoxically attract fewer people. Author: red
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