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 Czech Finance Minister Alena Schillerova said on Sunday she had warned the central bank against sharp rises in interest rates, prompting a swift reply from the bank’s governor, who said further increases were needed. The Czech National Bank is one of the first in the European Union to begin tightening monetary policy amid strong inflationary pressures. Czechs traveled abroad this summer more than last year and over 750,000 spent their vacation in Croatia, nearly as many as before the coronavirus pandemic, which made the country the most popular Czech holiday destination. Thousands of people in the Czech Republic will be in a position to receive a third round of vaccination against Covid-19 from next week as it is now at least eight months since their initial inoculation was completed. Up to 40,000 people will be informed of the possibility of a booster shot by the end of September. WORLD Thousands of people including soldiers and diplomats marched peacefully through Kyiv on Sunday in an annual gay pride parade. Homophobia is widespread in Ukraine,...
Everyone has their own opinion of where they believe the most beautiful city in the world. With Instagram at our fingertips, it can be hard to choose with billions of pictures uploaded of many different places. And it can be daunting to choose from with many beautiful places all around the world, but according to Time Out, the city of Prague was voted the most beautiful city in the world. Time Out asked 27,000 city dwellers worldwide what they believe their cities top qualities were, and Prague came out on top with 83 percent of voters praising the city. Prague being voted the most beautiful city in the world is nothing new to this infamous city as it was ranked number seven on the 37 best cities in the world. The city’s beautiful architectural landmarks like the Dancing House, Powder Tower, St Nicholas Church, and other monuments like the Charles Bridge and Astronomical Clock led the charge in Prague being named the most beautiful city in the world. “But it’s not all about the buildings: head to Letná Park for stunning hillside views, or wander along the banks of the Vltava for something more peaceful. There’s beauty to be found in the most unexpected of...
Amazon is building a new logistics center in Kojetin industrial park near Prerov in the Olomouc Region, which should create over 2,000 jobs when it opens in 2023. The construction of the logistics center will be completed next year, its full commissioning is planned for 2023. Amazon has already started recruiting the first employees, so far mainly specialists. The recruitment of employees who will process customer orders in Kojetín is scheduled for the second quarter of 2022. Amazon’s general manager for the Czech Republic, Michal Šmíd, told CTK today. According to Šmíd, Amazon will expand its product range with the help of a new distribution center in Kojetín and will support a growing number of independent small businesses that sell their goods through its e-shop. The center’s staff will prepare, package and send small items to customers, such as books, electronics and consumer goods. The operation in Kojetín will be equipped with modern technology, including robotic units. “These specialized robots slide under the product shelves, lift them and move them around the distribution center, thus helping to reduce the time required to process orders. In Kojetín, we will offer work with higher added value for qualified employees,” said Šmíd. Amazon has...
Over the summer, the Czech government announced that it was lifting the prohibition on dancing in clubs. It was reported that teens and adults (even some seniors) were dancing in the streets in jubilation around the country at the stroke of midnight, when the ban was lifted. And so since the time is still ripe for dancing, the annual Lunchmeat Festival, has again invited first-rate international electronic music artists and DJs paired with new media artists for making unique synesthetic (physical and intensely visual) experiences. While ever evolving, they are even keeping the motto for this year’s festival similarly to last year’s “We See You Dancin’” since who knows when dancing will again be prohibited. This year’s line-up includes as usual some of the most impressive names on the electronic music scene, including Oscar Mulero, Lee Gamble, and Lorraine James. Mulero, from Madrid, has legendary status for electronic dance festivals and deservedly so for his thunderous and hypnotic yet experimental mixes, and he will do a live audio visual performance with artist Javier Bejarono, presenting “Monochrome.” Lee Gamble is a London-based veteran on the electronic scene with roots in drum & bass, and with his crafty weaving of rave,...
The Czech Republic is an EU leader when it comes to the density of the railway network. With 9,277 kilometres of rail in the country, it would be difficult to find a more connected state within the EU. Quality-wise, though, there are severe shortcomings. “If we look at the quality and capacity of these lines, most of them are single-track and non-electrified. Moreover, unlike in western European countries, the most important lines are, with exceptions, at most two-track and run in parallel, long-distance and regional passenger and freight services,” said Emanuel Šíp, chairman of the Transport Section of the Czech Chamber of Commerce. “So we have to do more to reach the level of the EU’s Western countries,” he adds. The year 2021 is the European Year of Rail. The initiative aims at promoting railways as a sustainable and climate-friendly way of transport. It accounts for only 0.4% of greenhouse gas emissions from EU transport, while the total share of transport in the EU’s emissions stands at 25%. Moreover, railway is the only means of transport that reduced its emissions and energy consumption between 1990-2017. “Czech rail is still poor compared to developed countries,” said Petr Šlegr from the Centre...
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 Czech National Bank should refrain from interest rate hikes that can damage companies and people through higher borrowing costs, Prime Minister Andrej Babis said on Thursday, adding inflation should move lower. Czech carmaker Skoda Auto, part of the Volkswagen group, will halt production at two domestic plants for a week at the end of September due to chip shortages, the company said on Thursday. Czech President Milos Zeman who was hospitalized this week has undergone medical checks that haven’t revealed any problems or disease that would threaten his life, the presidential office said on Thursday. He will probably return to work next week. WORLD The World Economic Forum (WEF) is to take place in the Swiss mountain resort of Davos next year on Jan. 17-21, reverting to an in-person meeting of world and business leaders, organisers said on Thursday. The Italian government approved on Thursday some of the strictest anti-COVID measures in the world, making it obligatory for all workers either to show proof of vaccination, a negative test or recent recovery from...
Penny Market and Billa have both announced plans to launch online grocery stores. Penny, the German supermarket chain, plans on launching their e-shop in the coming weeks, while Billa, an Austrian chain, has plans for a launch in 2022. In the coming weeks, most likely in mid-October, the Penny Market supermarket chain will launch its own online shop, so far, only in pilot operation in Pilsen. Depending on the interest of customers, the grocery giant will decide how fast and where exactly to extend the new service. The Billa retail chain is celebrating 30 years on the Czech market this year and it wants to continue expanding and digitizing its stores. The company plans to start selling groceries and household products online next year. It will offer customers a selection of up to 15,000 products and the option of delivery directly to their home or picking the order up at one of the 240 stores around the country. “By entering the online market, we are simply just responding to the demand created by Czech customers. We will not introduce the service until 2022 so that we can prepare the online shop to run as smoothly and precisely as possible,” says...
The sprawling gathering will be opened by Woody Allen’s Rifkin’s Festival today (September 17) and brought to a close by Florian Zeller’s The Father on the 24th. Woody Allen’s Rifkin’s Festival will have the honour of opening the 28th edition of the Prague International Film Festival – Febiofest (17-24 September), while Florian Zeller’s Academy Award-winning The Father will close the gathering. First and second feature films will be locking horns in the main competition, including Ana Rocha de Sousa’s immigrant drama Listen, Amanda Kernell’s follow-up film to the award-reaping Sámi Blood, Charter, and Ruth Meehan’s debut, The Bright Side. The festival is dedicating a separate competition section to comedy films, which this year includes Michela Andreozzi’s generational clash in Parents vs Influencers, Mouloud Achour and Dominique Baumard’s romp Patrick & Sebastian vs the Fake News, and Icíar Bollaín’s Rosa’s Wedding. Furthermore, the Amnesty International Febiofest Award will be given to a film dealing with freedom, human rights, freedom of speech or the fight for a dignified life. The festival’s sprawling structure encompasses a variety of non-competitive sections, such as Eastern Delights, dedicated to Central and Eastern European cinema, the Balkans, the former Soviet Union and the Middle East, which will introduce Adilkhan Yerzhanov’s darkly comic drama Ulbolsyn. The Generation section presents films for the whole family, including Charlène Favier’s drama Slalom, while there is a genre sidebar called Planet...
The Colloredo-Mansfeld Palace, located on Karlova Street and close to Charles Bridge, stages exhibitions in a beautiful example of Prague Baroque palace architecture. If you’re a fan of architecture and history, you can go on a tour and find out about the building’s distinguishing features, as well as results of analyses of the Palace’s structural development. Colloredo-Mansfeld palace is part of the Prague City Gallery since 2010. It took three years into the grand opening to the public in 2013 when people can finally get inside and explore this decaying hidden gem. You can also learn about restoration surveys and ownership history, social and cultural life at the Colloredo-Mansfeld Palace in days gone by, and current plans. In the 18th century, this palace was reconstructed into a Baroque style completed by Prince Heinrich Paul von Mansfeld-Fondi. He was from the noble family, House of Mansfeld. Colloredo-Mansfeld has seen many owners in its lifetime such as Count Joachim Andreas von Schlick who was executed for participating in the Prague Estatesʼ rebellion. During the period after the Second World War, the palace was used by the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences. If the temporary exhibition doesn’t light your fire, you can always just...
The late physicist Albert Einstein, like many before him and many who followed, fell in love with Prague during his short stint here. While the capital presented him with many charming marvels, with known favorites of his being the architecture and scenic views, Einstein took issue with one vital component of Prague — its people. Einstein moved to the area in 1911 as a theoretical physics professor at Charles-Ferdinand University (today’s Charles University), where he lectured five hours a week and oversaw practice lessons for two hours thereafter. During that time, he lived in an apartment on today’s Lesnická Street. There he had access to electricity and even a working elevator, which he frequently mentioned in correspondence with friends. He was a frequent visitor to the Cafe Louvre and The House at the White Unicorn (Dům U Bílého jednorožce) on the Old Town Square. But Einstein considered Prague’s people decidedly less enchanting than the physical components of the city itself. In the letters to his friends, he found “humiliated loyalty was mixed with conceit” in the locals. He also criticized the German community in the area, which was running rampant with dangerous nationalistic fervor. Otto Stern, Einstein’s research assistant during...
In the first half of this year, 6,286 people were added to the city’s registry. At the end of June, Prague had a population of 1.341 million residents. Still, more people have died so far this year than were born. The increase in population was ensured by people who moved to the metropolis. This follows from the information of the Czech Statistical Office. The country’s total population thus exceeded the number of 10.7 million at the end of June, a pleasing statistic considering the fact that population growth was lower in the first quarter of this year. The number of deaths due to coronavirus has increased compared to last year From January to the end of June, 7,309 children were born in the capital, which is about two hundred more than a year ago. The number of deaths increased year on year, to a saddening 7,787 people. Last year, in the first half of the year, statisticians recorded about 1,600 fewer deaths in Prague. This increase is due to the coronavirus pandemic. There were 478 fewer children born in Prague in the first half of the year than deaths, and 6,764 more people moved to the city. 24,602 new inhabitants...
Ahead of Czech parliamentary elections due on 8-9 October 2021, Czech social democrats face hard times. Unlike their German counterparts, they are losing ground and opinion polls suggest they might not even pass the 5% threshold required to win a seat in the Czech parliament. Despite their low popularity, Czech social democrats are still optimistic about their future. “According to polls, there are still around 30% of people who have no one to vote for. They will make their decision at the last minute – and that’s where we have to focus our efforts,” said Jan Hamáček, leader of Czech social democrats. Czech Social Democracy is currently a part of the governing coalition together with the ANO party (Renew) of Prime Minister Andrej Babiš. However, they faced defeat both in regional elections in 2020 and in EU elections in 2019. The only representative of Czech social democrats in the European Parliament is MEP Radka Maxová, a former candidate and member of ANO who left the party to join social democrats in March 2021. According to Median agency, Babiš dominates current opinion polls with 27% of the votes. He is followed by centre-right coalition SPOLU formed by Civic democrats (ECR), Christian...
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