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. CZECH REPUBLIC According to Eurostat, governments across the EU spent over €100 billion on research and development (R&D), equivalent to 0.8% of GDP. The highest spending per capita was recorded in Luxembourg, while Czech Republic ranked 15th of 27th, with just under €150 per person. A discussion is underway in the European Union about the color-coded labeling of food products, the so-called Nutri-Score, to indicate how healthy they are. Some Czech food manufacturers are not waiting for legislation, and have started using the scheme themselves. Former Czech president Václav Klaus has been admitted to hospital for the second time in a matter of weeks. A spokesperson said the 80-year-old was suffering from high blood pressure, the same problem that saw him taken into Prague’s Central Military Hospital the first time. WORLD Manufacturers will be forced to create a universal charging solution for phones and small electronic devices, under a new rule proposed by the European Commission (EC). The aim is to reduce waste by encouraging consumers to re-use existing chargers when buying a new device. All...
Some 6,000 pubs and restaurants across the Czech Republic take part in the eight annual Czech Beer Days (Dny českého piva) from September 23 to September 30. St. Wenceslas Day, the 28th of September, is a national holiday, celebrating Václav I’s legacy of helping unify Bohemia. But he is also considered the patron saint of beer. Dozens of breweries and microbreweries are participating nationwide in the festival. The event celebrates not only beer but pub culture as a whole. And so participating pubs around the country are offering up not only special beers but also unique menus featuring dishes such as roast boar served with a rosehip sauce. Meanwhile, breweries are opening up their doors to visitors who will be able to see just how the beloved amber drink is made “We believe that Czech Beer Days will help encourage people to go out more often for their favorite beer. Czechs love Czech beer and the Czech beer tradition. We know that favorite pubs, especially for smaller towns and villages, are the center of social and cultural life,” František Šámal, chairman of the ČSPS, said in a press release. The Union of Breweries and Malt Houses established the Days of...
A Syrian couple, who were forced to seek asylum while on honeymoon in Prague, has now settled in the city as refugees. And though fitting into a new society is far from a holiday experience, Abdul and Silva are still in love with the city of their dreams. “If I’m depressed,” says Silva, 44, an interior designer from Damascus, “I go to an island on the Vltava and sit and say to myself, ‘it’s OK, I’m in a wonderful country and yes, I still feel the romance’.” Two factors have helped Silva and Abdul, 42, feel at home in the Czech Republic. One was the care they received when their son was born prematurely in Prague. The other is that Abdul, who co-owned a furniture factory back in Syria, has found work in a similar line of business with a job at IKEA. Abdul is a Syrian national while Silva is from the Armenian community in Lebanon but both grew up in Damascus. Silva graduated in interior design from the University of Damascus. Abdul’s degree in commerce and accounting was awarded under an Arab League scheme by the University of Sudan but he did his studies in Damascus. With good...
Signal Pass – a paid zone that includes three seats! Put on your 3D glasses and experience the biggest projection Signal has ever produced. An immersive experience from the Spanish studio Onionlab awaits you in the pompous hall of the Industrial Palace. An installation that eclipses many video mappings of recent years. Moreover, the neighbouring location offers a unique 360° projection in the Planetarium as part of the Signal Pass, which shows the damaged Czech landscape in drone footage. Videomapping is not to be missed It wouldn’t be Signal if organizers didn’t prepare a videomapping of one of the historic churches in Prague. You already know the Church of Sts. Cyril and Methodius in Karlín from the last Signals. This year, the videomapping will be prepared by the German studio Weltraumgrafik: we have been looking forward to it for two years! The Wind is a work about the future. The wind as a symbol of change and uncertainty that we don’t have to fear. Something completely new? The new Signal Festival app. There, you’ll find a map, info and everything you want to know and take to the festival. What may be incredible is that you also carry your virtual...
More than a year into the pandemic, activity at Prague Airport is now starting to pick up again, with nearly 700,000 passengers passing through the facility this August. This is a reported 102 percent increase from August of last year. Prague Airport also observed that more than 7,500 landings and takeoffs took place this August — 40 percent more than the previous year. Besides the typical vacation locales of Greece, Italy, and Spain, other popular destinations included Hurghada, Marsa, Alam, and Antalya. Burgas, a city on Bulgaria’s Black Sea coast, was most popular among travelers, with 46,000 passengers headed there. From the statistics collected, many passengers from Prague also flew to Amsterdam and Rhodes. Though the data supports predictions of increased travel, traffic is still far from where it was in 2019. “In August, our forecasts of strong outbound tourism were confirmed. There was a year-on-year increase of more than 100% in the number of passengers handled, but compared to August 2019, this is a 65% decrease,” said Jaroslav Filip, Director of Aviation Trade at Prague Airport. He added that the gradual relaxation of global travel restrictions attributed to a “slight recovery” in tourism from places like the United States. ...
The Chinese carmaker Dongfeng has started offering cars and electric cars in the Czech Republic. Next year it wants to sell 300 electric cars and the same number of petrol cars in the country. It now has homologated three models including two petrol SUVs and one electric SUV. A sports electric car with an output of 510 kW is to come to the domestic market by the end of the year, and a luxury electric car by the middle of 2022. Donfeng Motors is one of the three largest carmakers in China with an annual production of more than 3.5 million cars. Distribution for the Czech Republic will be provided by Bidli, which has so far operated mainly on the real estate market, but also supplies photovoltaic power plants or sells energy. The cars will be offered in the car center in Vestec near Prague, where there is also a service, and at the Bidli branches, of which there are currently 35. The cars will also be sold on the Internet. Service in individual regions will be provided by contractual partners. Dongfeng wants to compete in the Czech market mainly with pricing. It starts with the Glory 580 petrol model at...
New public transport shelters and public lighting are set to be installed on the streets of Prague in November. On Wednesday, the Councillor for Property, Jan Chabr (TOP 09), presented news related to public lighting. He also spoke about the prospect of separate advertising showcases which will disappear from the streets as part of the fight against visual smog. Since 1994, Public transport shelters have been operated by JCDecaux in Prague until June this year, when the municipality refused to extend their contract. The latest plans for the replacement of public transport roofs should take place within two years and should start in November. “The first city districts are selected, starting with Prague 13 and Prague 6,” said Chabr. “By the end of the year, about 40 new shelters should be installed.” Future shelter plans will also see that free-standing advertising spaces will not be a part of the stops. According to Chabr, ads should be gone from the streets by the end of the year in an effort to reduce visual smog. Next year, a larger part of the renovation should take place- the roofs will be transferred to the administration of DPP, which should compete with the new...
After eight years of plans, construction of the new branch of the Municipal Library of Prague (MKP) in Prague’s Petřiny should begin at the start of 2022. According to library spokeswoman Lenka Hanzlíková, a building permit has been obtained and the library is currently looking for a company to build on the site of the existing branch. Part of the building, which will be designed by architects from the monom studio and the Zavadil studio, will be a chamber hall for cultural, educational and community events and will hold the necessary equipment for so-called coworking, study or creative meetings. The library will be freely connected to the garden and there will be a terrace for outdoor seating as well as a kitchenette for preparing snacks. After applying for a building permit last year, Hanzlíková hopes the new library will be completed within two years from the start of construction. There are also plans to open a new type of branch in the Municipal Library in Prague in January next year where readers will be able to borrow books and then return them via self-service facilities without the assistance of a librarian. Eventually, the plan is that self-service book return facilities...
For a long time, Czech authorities didn’t accept vaccination certificates from outside the EU/EEA. This complicated the lives of expats living in the Czech Republic and also potential tourists from non-EU states who – despite being fully vaccinated – weren’t able to enter the country without restrictions. This has recently changed. However, the access isn’t a blanket one – there are some conditions. Fully vaccinated third-country citizens allowed entry At the end of August, The Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that the Czech Republic was expanding the list of countries whose vaccination certificates would be accepted in the country. The list contains certificates that will allow their holders to use establishments (such as restaurants, pools, or cinemas) and various services (such as hair salons and massage parlors). More importantly, holders of certificates from approved countries can travel to the Czech Republic from any country (including high-risk countries) without having to self-isolate upon arrival (though they still have to fill out the passenger locator form). Included countries There are three groups of countries who have been included on the list in addition to all countries of the EU which already use the EU COVID-19 passport. Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, San Marino, Switzerland,...
The far-right SPD party, which may play a role in forming a new Czech government next month, would demand the cabinet propose legislation that could lead to a referendum on leaving the European Union, party chief Tomio Okamura said on Wednesday. Prime Minister Andrej Babis’s ANO is likely to win the largest share of the vote in a Oct. 8-9 election but may struggle to form a majority as its current partners are polling at or below the 5% threshold to enter parliament. Two main opposition groups refuse to enter a government with Babis due to what they say are his conflicts of interests as the founder of a business empire. That may make Okamura’s anti-European and anti-NATO SPD, or Freedom and Direct Democracy, a partner in the talks, which ANO has not ruled out. Opinion polls put the party’s support at around 10%. Okamura said a pledge to propose a law on holding referendums, currently not possible, would be his price. Should such legislation be introduced, it would likely allow for a citizens’ petition to propose a vote, meaning Okamura could help organise one. “One of the fundamental conditions is for the government manifesto … to include a referendum law...
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. CZECH REPUBLIC The far-right SPD party, which may play a role in forming a new Czech government next month, would demand the cabinet propose legislation that could lead to a referendum on leaving the European Union, party chief Tomio Okamura said on Wednesday. Prime Minister Andrej Babis (ANO) and his Hungarian counterpart Viktor Orban will visit the North Bohemian Usti Region next Wednesday and Orban will also come to an election rally of ANO, government spokesman Vladimir Vorechovsky told the daily Denik N on Wednesday. The Czech Republic has asked Russia for legal aid in connection with the investigation into the blasts in the ammunition depot in Vrbetice, south Moravia, of which Russian military intelligence (GRU) agents are suspected, the Regional State Attorney’s Office in Brno said in a press release on Wednesday. WORLD No salary for no vax who should be in quarantine: this is what was decided in Germany by the Minister of Health, Jens Spahn, in agreement with colleagues from the Lander. According to what was leaked, the rules will affect both those...
Japan’s Netflix library contains more top-quality TV and film content than anywhere else in the world, according to a new study by Uswitch. The research calculated which countries have access to the best-reviewed and most awarded TV and film content by totalling the IMBD scores for every TV series and film in each country’s library. This was combined with the total number of award wins and award nominations and Uswitch then converted the overall total into a Netflix catalogue score out of a possible 100. Where To See the Best TV and Film on Netflix With an IMDB total of 27,284, more than 19,000 award wins and over 40,000 award nominations across its entire Netflix catalogue – Japan is awarded the maximum 100 Netflix catalogue points for its total score of 86,961, highest of all countries. The Czech Republic is second on the list with a Netflix catalogue score of 97.61. In third place is South Korea with a score of 94.02, the UK has a score of 93.78 which lands fourth place, and in fifth, it’s Switzerland with a score of 94.74. Interestingly, 50% of the top 30 list is made up of European countries, with the United States only just making an appearance in 29th place. Netflix first became available in Japan in 2015, and the top five IMDB rated TV series and films in Japan’s...
Don’t have an account? Register
[swpm_registration_form level=”6″]
Already have an account? Log In
How Would You Like to Promote Your Business? PR ArticleDisplay bannersVideo productionNewsletter adsJob ListingsInfluencer Marketing
Your Email
We will come back to you within 24 hours with our proporsal
