More than 500 people have signed a petition calling for electricity, water and heat supplies to be cut off to all Russian-owned buildings in Prague, including those used by Moscow’s diplomats, in response to Russia’s massive missile strikes on Ukrainian energy infrastructure. The signatures are being collected in an effort led by a Czech group called Arms for Ukraine. “Over the past several weeks, Ukrainian towns and villages have been hit by unprecedented missile attacks unleashed by Russia,” the group behind the campaign said. The Arms for Ukraine group added: “The main targets have been power plants, heating plants and water systems. This new phase of the war has had disastrous consequences for the daily lives of civilians. Apartments, schools and kindergartens, shops and factories, but also hospitals have been deprived of power and water.” The group called on “state and private energy distributors to give Russian diplomats in Prague a taste of their own medicine,” according to iDNES. “We demand that all Russian-owned buildings be disconnected from gas, water and electricity,” it said. “Let’s give the Russian embassy in Prague a taste of its own medicine,” one of the originators of the petition, Martin Ondráček, wrote on social media. “Let’s show Russian diplomats how it feels to be freezing at night, like...
The Czech Republic’s police have so far accused 49 people of accepting and supporting the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Czech police spokesman Ondrej Moravchik said. Criminal procedures are ongoing in 86 other cases. The police investigate around 300 cases related to Ukraine or Ukrainian refugees. Mr. Moravchik said that about a third of the cases are the so-called cases of approval and support for the Russian invasion of Ukraine. “86 cases concern the praise of aggression and other similar ways of accepting the murder of Ukrainian civilians,” Moravczik explained to the Czech public radio portal iROZHLAS.cz. The police triggered the investigation on the basis of two articles of Czech criminal law. The possibility of using the provisions to investigate cases of support for Russian aggression was proposed by Prosecutor General Igor Striz shortly after the start of the invasion of Ukraine. According to the General Prosecutor’s Office, any signs of support for Russia’s actions in the attacked country can be prosecuted under sections 365 and 405 of the Czech Republic’s Criminal Code, which sanction the approval of crime and denying, questioning, approving and justifying genocide. Under Czech law, such acts are criminalized and punishable by imprisonment of up to one to...
The standard of living in the Czech Republic declined relative to the European average last year. Gross domestic product (GDP) per capita in purchasing power parity terms fell by two percentage points to 91% of the EU average, putting the Czech Republic on par with Slovenia. Italy is three percentage points above. The minister of labour and social affairs, Marián Jurečka, has proposed increasing the minimum monthly wage by 1,100 crowns to 17,300 crowns from January of next year. The 6.8 percent proposed increase is higher than originally envisaged due to high inflation and predictions that it will continue to rise next year. The proposed hike will now be debated by trade unions and employers’ representatives. Real wages in the Czech Republic are falling the most out of any OECD country since the state was founded, according to an analysis by the company Cyrrus. The analysis shows that real wages fell by 8.3 percent this year and that the average Czech full-time employee would have needed to have saved CZK 40,000 during 2022 to maintain the same standard of living as they previously enjoyed. The Czech Republic will raise its contribution to investments in the programs of the European Space Agency (ESA) to 62 million euros a...
Twelve out of the 21 candidates who registered for the presidential election by the November 8 deadline were dismissed after the interior ministry reviewed the registrations, leaving all the businessmen heavyweights out of the race. All the long-term political favourites remain, and four of the dismissed candidates said they will appeal the decision at the Supreme Administrative Court. The main reason for the dismissal resulted from the verification of the collected signatures in support of the nomination. Candidates were required to present signatures of at least 20 parliamentarians, 10 senators or 50,000 Czech citizens. Businessmen Karel Divis, Tomas Brezina and Karel Janecek presented more than 50,000 signatures from their compatriots, but the ministry rejected too many of these signatures taking the number of signatures on the candidates applications beneath the prescribed threshold. Karel Divis was short by mere 116 signatures after the ministry rejected the incomplete signature files and ran two tests on samples from the remaining 61,438 signatures which yielded 17.847% and 19.765% mistakes rates. “As per the law a particular amount of signatures was deducted from the overall number of valid signatures and the result of Mr. Karel Divis is 49,884”, said head of the electoral department at the interior...
Homelessness organisations have warned that more Czech citizens are seeking refuge in homeless shelters as they face financial difficulties linked to the energy crisis. A census commissioned by Labour and Social Ministry found that at least 270,000 people live on the streets, in hostels, shelters or extremely overcrowded apartments. The Czech EU Council has withdrawn the proposal of visa liberalisation for Kosovo citizens due to current political tensions with Serbia over license plates, just hours before a deal was struck between Pristina and Belgrade. The fifth edition of the Czech Space Week festival began in Prague on Monday. The event, organised by the Ministry of Transport together with the CzechInvest agency and the Prague Planetarium and Observatory takes place over five days and will showcase innovations in the Czech space industry. Forum Karlín has cancelled upcoming concerts by two Russian artists, both of whom openly support Russia’s war in Ukraine, after criticism on social media at the decision to allow them to perform in the Czech Republic. Grigory Leps and Stas Mikhaylov were scheduled to perform at the music venue in Prague next spring. ANO party Chairman Andrej Babiš is now the favourite in the upcoming Czech presidential election according to a Data...
In addition to Christmas trams, a festively decorated garbage truck will delight pedestrians on the streets of Prague for the first time this season. The Mercedes-Benz-1830-GL Christmas truck, decorated with a garland and glowing snowflakes, will operate daily until January 3, 2022. It was assigned to operate an 80-kilometer route through Nové Město, Malá Strana and Hradčany. The evening shift starts at 19:00. Citizens will be able to see a Christmas garbage truck on the streets of Národní třída, Náměstí republiky, Jindřišská, Smetanovo nábřeží, Karmelitská, na Kampě, as well as on Čechův most. The crew consists of a driver and three garbage collectors. “We did not consider special Christmas uniforms. The crew will have standard work clothes,” says Radim Mana, a spokesman for Pražské služby.
Shortly after 4:00 p.m. on Sunday, November 27, the famed lamplighter of Prague lit up the gas lanterns on Charles Bridge Jan Žákovec, the lamplighter, left Křížovnické náměstí and crosses one side of the bridge and then returns on the other side of the bridge. The gas lighting in Prague lights up automatically, but during the Advent period several lanterns are always lit by a lantern lighter. The romantic gas light also illuminates the entire historic Royal Route, a busy tourist route from the Powder Gate to Hradčanské Square. Both Prague citizens and visitors can admire the almost-forgotten beauty and charm of gas lamps. You can meet the lamplighter every day at dusk (around 16:05 to 16:15) until 23 December. Žákovec is vice president of the Lamplighters’ Guild and head of the Gasworks Museum. At 205 cm, he is the tallest lamplighter in the world. The number of lamplighters can be counted on the fingers of one hand because today, the lamps light up automatically. “I know the lamplighters in Poland in Wroclaw, Brest in Belarus and in London … there are very few of us,” admits Žákovec with a smile. “In 2002 they turned on the first nine lamps...
The main theme of the 18th Filmasia entitled Making Waves – Navigators of Hong Kong Cinema is to celebrate the last 25 years of Hong Kong cinema. The selection of films is primarily intended to show the diversity and power of the new generation of filmmakers, but also more recent works of already established ones. The diverse nature of young Hong Kong is introduced in the New Talents section which will present four utterly different new features: Intimate drama Mama’s Affair by the talented Kearen Pang, New Year’s crazy comedy Chili Laugh Story by Coba Cheung, Jun Li’s socio-critical drama Drifting and queer coming-of-age film The First Girl I Loved. The Contemporary Films section will introduce new works of established filmmakers like Johnnie To, Yuen Woo-ping or Cheang Pou-soi, and, above all, Mabel Cheung. Two of her films will be screened: the documentary To My Nineteen-Year-Old Self features the stories of young women in contemporary Hong Kong, and with An Autumn’s Tale the organizers want to revisit one of her most influential films from the late 1980s dealing with migration. Here you can find the full program. Opening Film Chilli Laugh Story directed by Coba Cheng will open the FILMASIA. The screening will take place on December 1, at...
With the ongoing Ukraine war, tensions in Europe are on the rise. This is both due to an influx of war related-refugees to Central European cities, and discontent over the related rising cost of energy. As bombs fall on Ukraine, European nations are waking up to the sorry state of their own civil defence. Currently, in Kyiv, emergency workers are preparing 425 shelters for use during a nuclear war. In Prague, leftover Cold War-era bunkers are currently kept in a state of readiness to protect the population from nuclear war. Prague’s nuclear bunkers In 2019, it was estimated that there were 768 permanent shelters in Prague, with a total capacity for about 150,000 people. Municipal authorities are obliged by law to provide shelters, and Prague’s nuclear bunkers take on many forms. Blast and fallout shelters are built into hillsides, found in various tunnels, located in deep sections of the subway, and installed in reinforced basements of buildings. The Czech Fire and Rescue Service (FRS) admitted that “most” of the permanent pressure-resistant shelters are not in a condition for immediate use, and wouldn’t be prepared for such until a state of danger or war is officially declared. Currently, the FRS said, it would be possible to provide...
Even Holy Roman Emperors have hobbies. For the 14th Century ruler Charles IV, a spot of horseback hunting was the ideal way to pass the time between imperial duties. He was a bane to the scurrying wildlife in the Ore Mountains. However, he had an impeding ailment—an injured leg. One day, his travelling men discovered a warm pool of water mystically bubbling up from the ground. The emperor plunged his aching heft into this Godsent hot spring and felt an instant miraculous recovery. In the wake of his holy discovery, he granted city privileges to the small encampments surrounding these divine lands, and the healing springs were soon to form a brand-new mindful municipality. This new type of magical town was to be named after Charles IV, the King of Bohemia. The healed hero would ensure that this spiritual land retained its curative origin, and the first Spa Town in Europe was spawned. Homely and humble, architects set out to create a wholesome town. Resplendent with the grandeur of nature, pastoral-coloured fortresses bloomed throughout the all-giving hills. Soon, physicians heard about this new healing town and flocked there in their droves. They wrote of Carlsbad’s calm, peaceful, and hot springs. Perhaps the...
According to a survey conducted by ČSOB Index, 21 percent of companies and entrepreneurs in Czechia are planning to hire more employees in 2023. Meanwhile, 6 percent are looking to downsize, with the remaining 73 percent of respondents stating that they are not planning any changes. The American streaming platform Netflix is planning to film a documentary about Czech businessman Radovan Krejčíř, who is currently serving time in a South African prison, the Czech News Agency reported on Saturday citing the site News 365. A basic legislation proposal for introducing a regulated cannabis market in Czechia should be finished by the end of March, the country’s National Drug Coordinator Jindřich Vobořil said on Friday after a meeting of experts. The Czech Interior Ministry announced yesterday that nine candidates had been approved to run for president. The registered candidates are former PM Andrej Babis (ANO), far-right MP Jaroslav Basta (SPD), senators Pavel Fischer and Marek Hilser, former Mendel University rector Danuse Nerudova, former General Petr Pavel, Denisa Rohanova, who heads an association defending debtors’ rights, trade union leader Josef Stredula, and former Charles University rector Tomas Zima. Senior opposition ANO leader and presidential candidate Andrej Babis will...
We like interesting adverts and most brands come up with the best ones during the period before Christmas. Samsung is no exception to this rule and they enticed us with a glimpse of Christmas in Prague. The spot, titled ‘Quick Share the Holidays’, promotes a feature to quickly transfer files including images, and movies to other nearby Samsung devices in a wireless manner. Even better, you can sync up to five Samsung devices at once to share content. You can also set the visibility of Quick Share to only your contacts, everyone, or even nobody. As Apple did years ago, Samsung chose Prague for this year’s Christmas spot, specifically Římská street in Vinohrady (the block between Anny Letenská and Italská). This was not the first time Samsung had filmed in Prague. This June, the Czech branch released a short film by director Matyáš Fára parodying horror movies, which was shot exclusively on the top-of-the-line Samsung Galaxy S 22 Ultra. Part of it was filmed, for example, in the surroundings of the Vítkov Hill memorial. Sharing is also the theme of this year’s Apple Christmas ad. Specifically, audio sharing via AirPods or Beats headphones. The American company, however, chose a more...
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