• 03/28/2024

    Record temperatures for March 27 were seen at 20 out of 166 stations around Czechia keeping records for 30 years or more on Tuesday. The highest temperature, 22.1 degrees Celsius, was registered in České Budějovice – Rožnov in South Bohemia.

    According to meteorologists, Easter should be very warm temperatures ranging between 17 and 23 degrees Celsius on Saturday, Sunday and Monday, but possibly reaching up to 25 degrees Celsius.

    Author: Ruth Fraňková
  • 03/28/2024

    The new tourist season officially gets underway in Czechia on Thursday, with castles, chateaux and other national monuments administered by the National Heritage Institute opening their doors to the public. Most of the privately owned monuments that still belong to their original aristocratic owners also open ahead of the Easter holidays.

    Czechia’s rich architectural and cultural heritage traditionally draws millions of domestic and foreign visitors every year. In 2022, some 4.2 million visited the Czechia’s chateau and castles. However, the number is still short of the pre-Covid season of 2019, which saw over 5,000 visitors.

  • 03/28/2024

    Russia has no designs on any NATO country and will not attack Poland, the Baltic states or the Czech Republic, President Vladimir Putin said late on Wednesday. According to a Kremlin transcript of the speech, Putin said that if the West supplies F-16 fighters to Ukraine then they will be shot down by Russian forces, but that NATO states themselves are not targets. "We have no aggressive intentions towards  Poland, the Baltic States or the Czechs – that is complete nonsense. It's just another way to deceive their population and extract more money from the people to carry the burden of armament on their shoulders," the Kremlin chief said.

  • 03/27/2024

    The cabinet has added three more names, two individuals and one legal entity, to the national sanctions list created on the basis of the Czech Magnitsky Act approved by Parliament in 2022, Prime Minister Petr Fiala said on Wednesday.

    They are Russian politician and businessman Viktor Medvedchuk, politician, media producer and propagandist Artyom Marchevsky, and the company Voice of Europe.

    According to Mr. Fiala, the sanctions are meant to hit a pro-Russian network that has been trying to develop an influence operation in Czechia. This could potentially have had a serious impact on the security of the country and the European Union, he said.

    The Czech Magnitsky Act allows the government to impose sanctions on foreign entities violating human rights, supporting terrorism, or committing cybercrimes. The sanctions include asset-freezing and a ban on entering the country.

    Author: Ruth Fraňková
  • 03/27/2024

    Some 1,500 prominent figures in the pre-1989 Communist regime will soon have their old-age pensions cut, under an amendment to the Pension Insurance Act, which came into force at the beginning of 2024.

    The list of those concerned, which was created by the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes, was handed over to social welfare administrations on Wednesday.

    The names include, for instance, former members of the central committee of the Communist Party, chairs of parliamentary and national committees, general and chief military prosecutors, selected soldiers and high-ranking police officers, as well as top members of the People’s Militia and border guards.

    Under the new legislation, pensions higher than CZK 18,674 will be reduced by CZK 300 for each year in office.

    Author: Ruth Fraňková
  • 03/27/2024

    Part of the Lány Game Park is due to open to the public on Friday, the Prague Castle administration informed on its website. The park is adjacent to the Lány Chateau, which serves at the summer residence of Czech presidents.

    The Lány Game Park was established in 1716 and extends over an area of some 3,000 hectares. It is managed by the Lány forest administration and currently serves mainly to protect pure-bred game, including deer, fallow deer and mouflons.

    President Petr Pavel said last autumn that he would like to make the game park more accessible to the public. The area in question will be open daily, including holidays.

    Author: Ruth Fraňková
  • 03/27/2024

    Thursday is expected to be partly cloudy to overcast with day temperatures ranging between 12 and 17 degrees Celsius.

    Author: Ruth Fraňková
  • 03/27/2024

    Czech tennis player Tomáš Macháč continues his successful run at the Miami Open. The 24-year-old Czech defeated Italian Matteo Arnaldi 6-3, 6-3 on Tuesday, reaching his first ATP Masters 1000 quarter-final.

    Macháč, who is ranked No. 60, will next face the second seed Jannik Sinner of Italy. Regardless the result, Macháč is guaranteed to break into the world’s top 50 for the first time next week.

    Author: Ruth Fraňková
  • 03/27/2024

    An exhibition called New Realism opens in Prague City Gallery on Wednesday, offering a fresh perspective on visual culture and art in Czechoslovakia between 1918 and 1945.

    The exhibition features more than 300 works of art, including  paintings, sculptures, drawings and prints, as well as photography and film, taking into account ethnic minorities and solitary artists within the borders of the former Czechoslovakia,

    Among the artists represented in the exhibition, which is due to run until August 25, is Karel Čapek, Jan Zrzavý, Otto Gutfreund, František Muzika, and Zdenek Rykr.

    Author: Ruth Fraňková
  • 03/27/2024

    The government is set to discuss several items in secret mode at its session on Wednesday. According to European Affairs Minister Martin Dvořák one of the issues on the agenda is the possible appointment of a new Czech ambassador to Moscow. The meeting will also be attended by the head of the Czech Counter Intelligence Service Michal Koudelka.

    The website Lidovky.cz wrote on Wednesday that after months of debate, Czechia has decided to appoint a new ambassador to Russia. According to several sources, the candidate being considered for the post is Daniel Koštoval, a diplomat and former deputy minister of defence.

    Author: Ruth Fraňková

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