Vlastimil Gular’s life took an unwelcome turn a year ago: minor surgery on his vocal cords revealed throat cancer, which led to the loss of his larynx and with it, his voice. But the 51-year-old father of four is still chatting away using his own voice rather than the tinny timbre of a robot, thanks to an innovative app developed by two Czech universities. It was developed for patients set to lose their voice due to a laryngectomy, or removal of the larynx, a typical procedure for advanced stages of throat cancer. The joint project of the University of West Bohemia in Pilsen, Prague’s Charles University and two private companies – CertiCon and SpeechTech – kicked off nearly two years ago. The technology uses recordings of a patient’s voice to create synthetic speech that can be played on their mobile phones, tablets or laptops via the app. Ideally, patients need to record more than 10,000 sentences to provide scientists with enough material to produce their synthetic voice. “We edit together individual sounds of speech so we need a lot of sentences,” said Dr Jindrich Matousek, an expert on text-to-speech synthesis, speech modelling and acoustics who heads the project at the Pilsen...
In the Czech Republic, around 9,000 households were without electricity on Thursday after heavy snow in regions bordering Germany and Austria. Over half a meter of snow had fallen in Jablonec, streets, and pavements are blocked. Central and Eastern Europe were hit by dramatic snowfall after cold air arrived from Scandinavia and western Russia. Germany and Poland are especially at risk of heavy snowfall today. At the time of the announcement, two meters of snow had already fallen on the northern slopes of the European Alps since the start of the year. For skiers, this snow will turn out to be a blessing, but for travelers and residents throughout Austria, Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic, and the Low Countries, road conditions have been poor and mountain passes have been closed. Author: red
50 years ago the 20-year-old student Jan Palach set himself alight in protest at apathy in the face of the Soviet occupation of Czechoslovakia. Now, the house where he grew up (in the town of Všetaty, Central Bohemia), is to open as a special museum in August. The museum will feature – among other items – Palach’s briefcase and a letter found within it. Jan Palach spent most of his life in Všetaty, where he grew up and went to elementary school. He lived in a house where his parents used to run a sweetshop. The small house is located near the Tišický stream, at the end of Smetanova street. Jan Palach’s room was at the first floor. On 16 January 1969, he left the house for the train station in Všetaty, where he took the 6:10 train to Prague. Libuše Palachová continued to live in the house for a few more years. Then she sold the house and moved to Kamenický Šenov to live with her second son Jiří. She died there on 24 September 1980. As early as in 1969, proposals were made in Všetaty to place a commemorative plaque on the house in Smetanova street. This, however, did...
The Prague International Film Festival – Febiofest will deliver the best of contemporary international and Czech cinema for the 26th time this year, presenting over 150 films in 16 sections. After the Prague part it will again head to cinemas throughout the Czech Republic. The festival will get underway with a gala opening on Thursday 21 March 2019 at Prague’s Municipal House and will run until 29 March. The closing ceremony, at which the winners of the New Europe section, the Amnesty International Febiofest Award and the You’re the Filmmaker competition will be announced, will take place at CineStar Anděl on Thursday 28 March. As every year, screenings will be held at the CineStar Anděl and CineStar Černý Most multiplexes and the National Film Archive Ponrepo and Municipal Library cinemas. Febiofest will take place in the regions from 1 to 18 April 2019. 26th edition to present new Classics and TV Now sections This year’s edition will present 16 sections, including the New Europe competition, Panorama (the most noteworthy and successful festival films), Central Park (intended for a broad audience) and Masters (new works by famous directors). Also on offer will be very popular sections focused on particular parts of...
Czech unemployment rose to a rate of 3.1 percent of the workforce in December, in line with analysts’ forecasts but still the lowest number for that month since 1996, the Labour Ministry said on Wednesday. Unemployment rose from the level of 2.8 percent in November. The Czech job market is the tightest in the European Union with unemployment at around a two-decade low, fuelling wage growth in a rising economy. The number of job vacancies is the highest since records started in 1995. It has surpassed the number of people who are ready to fill them every month since March. The total number of jobless rose to 231,534 last month. Author: red
From 15 February to 26 May 2019, the Krizik´s Pavillions at the Holešovice Exhibition Grounds in Prague will host a spectacular exhibition of artwork from one of the most renowned animation studios in the world – Pixar. The exhibition, called Pixar – 30 Years of Animation, will present archival as well as newer works from the famous studio in a showcase that lets visitors take a look under the hood at how Pixar makes its films. The exhibit also delves into Pixar’s process for creating characters that will resonate with audiences worldwide, and features original drawings that help illuminate the studio’s creative methods. This exhibition has been seen by audiences around the globe, and now it is ready to premiere in the Czech Republic. From the early animated shorts to Toy Story and The Incredibles; across more than thirty years of development and hard work; from a small team of animation enthusiasts to the most famous animation studio of the universe – you have, in a nutshell, the whole evolution of Pixar Animation Studios. Its fans in the Czech Republic will have the opportunity to see that evolution at the spectacular exhibition that will open its doors on 14 February 2019....
Tram 23 is a brilliant opportunity to see all the important areas in Prague. The public transportation company calls it Nostalgic line No. 23 and it’s not without a reason. This line is served by the T3 tram which is the most produced tram type in the World and it served Prague for about 50 years since early ’60s. The tram goes from Vinohrady, crossing one of the Prague’s main traffic hubs I.P.Pavlova, down to Karlovo Náměstí within walking distance from Dancing house, continues to Národni Třída and National Theatre, where you can get the wonderful view across the river to the Prague Castle and Petřín tower. Then it crosses the river to Újezd and Malostranské náměstí, where you can sit on Pražské židle, or decide whether you wanna go to the Charles Bridge, walk up to the Prague castle or continue to the Prague castle by the tram where it terminates. The best thing about this line is that you don’t pay more than for the classic public transportation. So whether you buy a day ticket or regular ticket, you can always use it for line 23 as well as metro. I take the tram mostly by accident: it...
The Czech government has approved a plan to guarantee the near-term rights of British citizens in the event of a “no-deal” Brexit. The Interior Ministry says the roughly 8,000 Britons currently living in the country would retain their rights in the immediate aftermath of Brexit even if Britain crashes out of the EU in March with no deal. The ministry says Britons would retain the same rights as the citizens of EU countries for a transitional period until Dec 31, 2020. The bill still needs parliamentary approval. Without the bill, some 5,000 out of 8000 British nationals on the Czech labour market would end up with a status of non-EU foreigners. They would not be able to continuously work in the Czech Republic or automatically join local healthcare and welfare systems. “Failure to pass the bill would also threaten some 40,000 Czech citizens living in Britain,” said Deputy PM and Interior Minister Jan Hamacek, adding that all measures proposed by the Czech cabinet are conditional on reciprocity on the part of Britain. Britain is due to leave the EU on March 29, but it’s unclear whether lawmakers will approve the divorce agreement Prime Minister Theresa May has negotiated with the...
The Czech authorities can drastically reduce the number of Russian diplomats in the country due to Russia’s “massive espionage.” According to the Bild newspaper, Prague determined that in 2016 and 2017, Russia carried out cyber-attacks against the Czech Foreign and Defense Ministries. As a result, a large portion of Czech officials’ personal data was leaked. The government’s communication systems were also threatened. The hacker groups ATP28 and Fancy Bear, both with ties to Russia, are allegedly involved in the attacks. The Czech Republic’s Security Information Service or BIS was also greatly dissatisfied by the fact that there are too many “technical personnel” from the Russian Embassy in Prague. “This often conceals representatives of Special Services. Moreover, supposedly, several reporters and oligarchs in the Czech Republic… are also Russian spies,” the article says. The Czech Government fears that the country has become a part of Russia’s hybrid strategy against NATO and European Union. According to Prague, Moscow’s goal is to weaken NATO and to achieve the collapse of the EU with the help of pressure against certain States. Author: red
Prague residents over the Christmas holidays donates a record eight tonnes of cat and dog food, both dried and canned, plus snacks to a well-known animal shelter in Troja, the Municipal police confirmed on Sunday. On December 23 and 24, some 15,000 people visited, the police said in a press release. According to the shelter, several dogs were adopted. Around 3,000 dogs and 1,700 cats arrive at the shelter annually; most of the dogs are successfully returned to their owners, the shelter said. In addition to food, citizens also offered warm blankets, bowls, leashes, and toys. The canines are housed in Troja, while the felines are placed at a facility in Dolních Měcholupy across the city. Author: red
Czech supermarkets with floor space of 400 metres squared or more, will be banned from throwing away or destroying unsold food and must instead donate it to charities or to non-profit organizations, under a law set to crack down on food waste. The foodstuffs involved do not meet certain standards – having damaged packaging, for instance – but are safe to consume. In 2017, according to the Czech Federation of Food Banks, 1900 tons of unused food, were collected. Now, the amount of donated food could increase up to five times. Tesco has been cooperating with food banks since 2013. “We give hundreds of tons of food, usually fruit, vegetables, andpastries,” said Václav Koukolíček, chain’s spokesman, adding that donations from 154 stores are made daily or weekly basis. On Wednesday, the country’s highest court has thrown out an appeal from a group of 25 members senators. They claimed the legislation was unconstitutional as it represented a form of tax on food and contravened ownership rights and the right to do business. The average Czech consumes 785 kilograms of food per year. But for every Czech, some 100 to 200 kilograms of food is discarded per year. Only 9 percent of people aged 18 to 24 years old...
On January 1, 1993, Czechoslovakia separated peacefully into two new countries, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. It is also known as the Velvet Divorce, a reference to the bloodless Velvet Revolution of 1989 that led to the end of the rule of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia and the formation of a democratic government. When the communist regime fell in 1989, ČSFR (Česká a Slovenská Federativní Republika) was established, yet again composed of the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic and governed by the Federal Assembly. The newly-elected president Václav Havel was strongly against any breakup. In fact, the majority of the population at the time was also against such an idea. In a country-wide poll from 1992, only 37% Czechs and 36% of Slovaks favored division and dissolution. The Geographical Background At the beginning of 1918, Slovakia existed only as a region of Hungary that contained the majority of a people with what was called Slovak ethnicity. Czech was then made up of the two regions of Bohemia to the west and Moravia to the east. With the fall of the Austro Hungarian Empire, Hungary was basically cut to pieces along ethnic lines and the ethnic region of Slovaks joined with the Czech regions to become on October 28th, 1918, Czechoslovakia. ...
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