News

Firefighters recorded elevated levels of radioactivity from an unspecified object inside a Charles University school building in Prague’s Libeň district on Saturday evening.

Emergency services were alerted by an anonymous caller who reported the presence of a suspicious item at the university premises in V Holešovičkách Street. The site is one of several facilities linked to the Faculty of Nuclear Sciences and Physical Engineering of the Czech Technical University in Prague, which operates the training nuclear reactor VR-1 “Vrabec.”

According to officials, the measured radioactivity did not pose a health risk. Nevertheless, the case has been taken over by police, and the State Office for Nuclear Safety is also involved.

Officers sealed off the room where the object was discovered. Criminal investigators will now examine the case on suspicion of possible illegal handling of radioactive material.

Zuzana Marešová, née Spitzerová, one of the 669 predominantly Jewish children evacuated from Prague to London at the outbreak of the Second World War thanks to Nicholas Winton, has died at the age of 94.

She was the last surviving child in the Czech Republic rescued by Winton through the Kindertransport operation.

Representatives of the Paměť národa (Memory of Nations) announced her death on Facebook on Sunday. The organisation previously documented and published Marešová’s story on its website.

In 1939, Winton organised the departure of hundreds of children from Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia, arranging their transport to safety in Britain in the months before the war began.

Czech Foreign Minister Petr Macinka clashed with former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during a panel debate at the Munich Security Conference, where he defended some of President Donald Trump’s policies.

“I think what Trump is doing in America is a reaction to the fact that in some political areas things have gone too far — too far from ordinary people, too far from reality,” Macinka said.

He added that he disagrees with what he described as “the gender revolution and climate alarmism,” stating that he believes “there are only two sexes, and the rest is probably a social construct. ”

Macinka also argued that the West is divided between conservatism and progressivism, which he described as rejecting tradition and promoting what he called “artificial concepts of social engineering.” He said he considers himself a conservative politician.

Ms. Clinton voiced strong disagreement with his arguments and his defense of Donald Trump’s policies.

The discussion, focused on divisions within the West, concluded Saturday’s public programme at the Munich Security Conference. Also appearing on the panel were Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski, Bulgarian political scientist Ivan Krastev and political scientist Gladden Pappin of the Hungarian Institute of International Affairs.

Czech skeleton racer Anna Fernstädtová secured 10th place in the Olympic competition in Cortina d’Ampezzo, capping a steady two-day performance on the Italian track.

The 29-year-old climbed into the top ten on Saturday and ultimately held onto the position despite slipping one spot after the final run. Fernstädtová posted faster times in both of her second-day heats than she had on Friday, with her best effort of 57.83 seconds coming in the third run. That performance lifted her from 11th to ninth overall at the time.

In the final heat, she was just two hundredths of a second slower but could not fend off a late charge from Britain’s Amelia Coltman. Coltman clocked the fourth-fastest time of the final round, pushing the Czech racer down by 0.12 seconds in the overall standings.

Gold went to Austria’s 36-year-old Janine Flock, who claimed the Olympic title in her fourth appearance under the five rings.