Morning News: Thursday, February 23, 2023

The Regional Development Ministry is planning to release 1.6 billion crowns for the construction of new rental apartments, a move aiming to address the social housing shortage, the ctk news agency reported. The program will be open to municipalities, associations, charities and legal entities.

Many Czech theatres, including the Prague National Theatre (ND), will join the support for Ukraine on Thursday, day before the first anniversary of the start Russian invasion of Ukraine, thus meeting the appeal of the Czech Professional theatre association (APD), ND spokesman Tomas Stanek told CTK today.

Data provided by the Czech National Tourist Board reveals that a total of 19.5 million tourists visited the Czech Republic last year, thus marking an increase of 71 per cent compared to 2021. In spite of such an increase, the number of tourists is still 12 per cent less than before the pandemic.

Czechia’s annual Muriel Awards for best comic book of the year went to a comic diary by the respected Czech comic author Lucie Lomová. The book, called Každý den je nový or Every Day Starts Anew, also won the prize of the Czech Academy of Comics. I discussed the book with the academy’s director Pavel Kořínek:

The head of Czechia’s Military Police, Otakar Foltýn, has requested to be relieved of his position by the end of February, Defence Minister Jana Černochová told news site Ekonomiky denik on Tuesday. She has asked the Committee on Defence of the Chamber of Deputies to meet as soon as possible and discuss the decision.