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. Candidate for the minister of European affairs Mikulas Bek was received by President Milos Zeman at the Lany manor on Tuesday, to discuss issues related to the Czech EU presidency starting in mid-2022, Bek has told reporters. Prime Minister-designate Petr Fiala has convened the first informal government meeting of the government slated to come to power in mid-December. Fiala’s cabinet is to comprise the election-winning Together alliance of the ODS, Christian Democrats (KDU-CSL) and TOP 09 and of the Pirates/STAN tandem. The Prague City Hall announced on Tuesday to cancel all festivities on New Year’s Eve, including the fireworks and projection mapping, due to rising Covid-19 infection numbers. This is the second year in a row that all New Year’s celebrations are cancelled at the municipality. The new government program aims to strengthen the protection of the landscape and biodiversity in the Czech Republic, as both an environmental and a political issue. It also envisions the Czech Republic becoming an active and proactive player in the negotiation of the European Green Deal. ...
After the Black Friday and Cyber Monday shopping holidays, Giving Tuesday asks us to give back and do good, all while engaging in what the official GivingTuesday website calls “radical generosity” in our everyday lives. Founded in 2012 as a collaboration between New York City’s 92nd Street Y and the United Nations Foundation, Giving Tuesday began as a way to encourage a “day that encourages people to do good,” according to the website, but has since become its own nonprofit — and a nationwide movement. It is in honour of good deeds that some of Prague’s monuments will light up today after dark. In addition to the traditional lighting of the Petrin Lookout Tower, the people of Prague will see a giant heart in the National Theatre building from five o’clock in the afternoon. Anyone can join on the most generous day of the year, and anyone and almost anything can join Giving Tuesday. In the Czech Republic, Giving Tuesday has been initiated by the Association of Social Responsibility for six years now. Those interested can be inspired by the initiative’s website, where they will find over two hundred challenges. Those interested can support, for example, children with cancer, single seniors, or the construction of a...
The Czech Republic’s outgoing and incoming prime ministers put aside their differences on Tuesday to support an initiative to administer 1 million COVID-19 booster shots in a week. Outgoing Prime Minister Andrej Babis and Petr Fiala, the prime minister-designate, voiced their support for the plan announced by the “Doctors help the Czech Republic” group that aims to provide relief struggling hospitals. “The pandemic doesn’t know any political barriers,” Babis said about the unusual partnership. “There are moments when we need to show our common will,” Fiala said. The country has been facing a record surge of coronavirus infections. The new daily increase hit an all-time high of almost 28,000 cases on Thursday. The infection rate was 1,230 new cases per 100,000 residents over the past seven days on Monday, currently making it one of the hardest-hit countries. A number of COVID-19 patients needing intensive care surpassed 1,000 on Monday for the first time since April 14, with the overall number of hospitalized at 6,394 on Monday. About 30% of them have received two shots of a vaccine, while authorities hope the booster shot makes a difference. The initiative has called on their colleagues from outpatient clinics to help speed up...
The travel-rule landscape is shifting before our eyes right now, but with the vaccination and booster rollouts continuing apace worldwide, stress-free holidays all round should be back with a bang next year. And with that in mind, Time Out has ranked the 16 best city breaks in Europe for 2022, these emerging destinations picked ‘because of their excellent food, culture, nightlife and community spirit – the things that have always made Europe’s cities such great places to be’. Time Out adds that ‘in these climate-conscious times, the list also features only places that are easy to get to by train and bus’. The No1 spot in the list is taken by Arles in France, with Brno second and Sheffield flying the flag for England in ninth place. Time Out describes Brno in this way: Although sandwiched between Prague and Vienna, self-confident Brno is no middle child. Once a powerhouse dubbed the ‘Moravian Manchester’, the laidback Czech second city has repositioned itself as a post-industrial science and tech hub. But you’ll find plenty of clues to Brno’s layered past at a clutch of offbeat underground attractions, including the mysterious brick cisterns at Žlutý Kopec, communist-era nuclear bunker 10-Z, and the ‘Denis’ bomb shelter under...
There will be no New Year’s fireworks and neither a videomapping show in Prague, Mayor Zdeněk Hřib announced today. The city’s authorities decided to not go ahead with traditional January 1 municipal events in view of the Covid situation. “We did not plan any fireworks this year either, but we were considering alternative ways to welcome the new year. We were waiting for the epidemic situation and anti-epidemic measures to develop. Given the current situation, we abandoned the planned activities,” Hofman said. Due to the current epidemic situation and the measures in force, the municipality does not plan any other New Year’s Eve. “We would not be able to guarantee the safety of visitors at such an event with regard to the transmission of the disease, and it would be difficult to ensure the spectators’ distances,” City Hall spokesperson Vít Hofman told the Czech News. In the past, Prague city traditionally welcomed the new year on January 1 with fireworks, which from January 1, 2020, have been replaced with a videomapping show, which, according to the city management, does not have negative consequences, such as noise and stress for animals. Among other reasons, last year the city wanted to save...
Czech President Miloš Zeman called on Visegrad countries to follow the Austrian example and make COVID-19 vaccines mandatory for everyone. “We should think about mandatory vaccination as Austria did because it seems like the only way to end the COVID crisis,” Zeman said during his online meeting with his counterparts from Visegrad countries – Slovakia, Hungary and Poland. Zeman could not join the V4 presidential meeting in person, as he was recently released from the hospital where he was treated for liver cirrhosis. He also tested positive for COVID-19. According to Zeman, politicians are avoiding obligatory vaccine decisions because it would be a very unpopular move. Zeman himself is aware that his supporters would be against such a measure. “All the politicians are afraid to say that mandatory vaccination is the only solution because they would lose votes. I can do it because after ten years, my presidential mandate is coming to an end,” Zeman said. Zeman is performing his duties again after a 6-week stay in hospital. As he has not completely recovered and he is COVID-19 positive, his ability to work is limited. On Friday, Zeman appointed Petr Fiala as the new Czech Prime Minister, raising eyebrows as...
To commemorate ten years since the death of President Václav Havel, an event “10 years without V.H.” will be organized in Prague on December 18th. Václav Havel’s public engagement began in the 1960s. During the Prague Spring of 1968, he argued that reforming the Communist Party and its style of government was not enough. Instead of mere democratization, he wanted true democracy. However, all such hopes were dashed by the Soviet-led invasion and subsequent occupation. Havel became a leading figure in the Czechoslovak dissident movement. One of the co-authors of the Charter 77 declaration, around which the most influential human rights organization formed. He was no longer spared a prison sentence – Havel was convicted in 1979 and not released from prison until 1983. He was arrested again and sentenced in 1989 but spent only a few months in prison. In that same seminal year, there would be a major change not just in his life but in Czechoslovak society. Communism is toppled in the Velvet Revolution, and Václav Havel becomes president of a newly democratic country. He will also go down in history as the last President of Czechoslovakia and the first President of the Czech Republic. Program The...
Sellers and operators of the canceled Christmas markets will receive higher compensation, said Minister of Industry and Trade Karel Havlíček (ANO) via Twitter. Compensation should range from 30 to almost 100 percent, the minister said on Czech Television. According to Havlíček, the agreement with representatives of the trade unions is scheduled for Sunday. The resigned government ordered the closure of Advent markets on Friday at 6 p.m. as a measure against the spread of coronavirus. “Operators of Christmas stalls and Advent markets will achieve higher compensation. We are already preparing their parameters with the representatives of the trade unions, we want to have a final agreement on Sunday evening, we will publish on Monday,” Havlíček wrote on Twitter. According to him, every limited or closed establishment will receive support. Compensation is likely to follow three levels of revenue shortfalls: 30 to 50 percent, 50 to 100 percent and complete closure, the minister said on Czech Television. “Of course, for those who have to close, the compensation will be maximum, that is, it will be close to one hundred percent,” he said. According to Havlíček, the final meeting with business representatives is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Sunday. The sale of...
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. Health Minister Adam Vojtěch (ANO) proposes that selected groups should be vaccinated against coronavirus from 1 March 2022. Compulsory vaccination should apply to people over 60 years of age, police officers, soldiers, and other armed forces, as well as firefighters and health and social care workers. On December 18th, Prague will host a day of activities dedicated to Václav Havel, including concerts, screenings, exhibitions, meetings and discussions that celebrate the 10th anniversary of Havel’s death. The Liberec hospital confirmed that the woman who caught coronavirus had the Omicron variant and is the first confirmed case of this variant in Czechia. The World Health Organization (WHO) considers Omicron alarming because it is potentially more transmissible than other variants. Sellers and operators of the canceled Christmas markets will receive higher compensation, said Minister of Industry and Trade Karel Havlíček (ANO) via Twitter. Compensation should range from 30 to almost 100 percent, the minister said on Czech Television. Czechia, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia should be considering making vaccination against COVID-19 obligatory as it seems to...
In the upper part of Wenceslas Square, Christmas markets continue despite the government ban. The Prague 1 office authorized them as a “cultural event”, said Petr Bidlo, a spokesman for the city district, adding that “according to the organizers, all necessary anti-epidemic measures were observed”. “The Office has approved the markets as a cultural event, and therefore they take place under that regime,” Bidlo said on Monday. According to the organizers, drinks and food are served only for take away and the staff warns visitors that they should not consume them on the spot. “I fully understand the seriousness of the situation, I myself comply with all anti-pandemic measures and I ask all citizens to do the same. However, I consider the ban on Christmas markets to be huge nonsense. Farmers’ markets, for example, can continue to operate,” Hejma wrote on Facebook Mayor Hřib said on Monday that the city can influence sales only through a special decree. It determines where and what can be sold in public places in Prague. According to that, only the lower part of Wenceslas square is explicitly mentioned as a place for Christmas markets. “Even in an emergency, the mayor does not have the...
If you can’t do it physically, at least do it virtually. People can now buy refreshments, toys, ceramics, decorations and other handicrafts online in the so-called virtual marketplace. The purchase will support artisans who were supposed to sell their goods at Zelný trh in Brno and had to close their stalls due to anti-coronavirus measures. The website features links to the market sellers’ offers, contact details and e-shops. Even though Christmas is just around the corner, the products can be bought all-year-round. A wide variety of traditional Czech products including jewelry, ceramics, bath salts, toys, bells, art and decorations can be found on the Brno Markets website. The Czech government declared a 30-day state of emergency on Thursday, closing Christmas markets as well as nightclubs in a bid to stem COVID-19 infections. Other new restrictions limit the number of spectators at cultural and sports events to 1,000 people who have been vaccinated or have recovered from COVID-19, or only 100 visitors, down from 1,000. Outgoing Prime Minister Andrej Babis, whose ANO party moved into opposition after losing a general election in October, said mandatory vaccination was an option as only some 6.3 million Czechs are fully vaccinated. Czech e-shops offer support to...
Researchers from the Research Institute of Plant Production and other organizations, together with the Transport Company of the Capital City (DPP), are testing new grass mixtures which they hope will be resistant to extreme weather conditions. The main goal is to find a perfect mixture that will be less demanding on maintenance and water consumption. DPP costs irrigation of grassed lines, with an area of 111,000 square meters, about 1.5 million CZK a year, said DPP board member and technical director Jan Šurovský. “If the joint research project succeeded in testing and developing grass mixtures that are truly resistant to extreme conditions, especially drought, this would not only mean a significant reduction in water consumption and maintenance costs for us but would ultimately meet 100 percent all urban and environmental properties that are expected of them,” said Šurovský. According to project coordinator Vojtěch Holubec, grasses, clover and other plants used in green carpets in Bělohorská Street come from hardy plants that researchers have collected at extreme locations in the Czech Republic. At the Drinopol and U Kaštanu tram stops, scientists will test carpet variants for both sunny and shady habitats. According to Šurovský, there are about 16 kilometers of tram...
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