• Jan Graubner to become new Prague Archbishop
    05/13/2022

    Olomouc Archbishop Jan Graubner will become the new Archbishop of Prague, the Vatican announced on its website on Friday.

    Mr Graubner succeeds Cardinal and Archbishop Dominik Duka, who has served as head of the Czech Roman Catholic Church since 2010. Mr Duka has served in the position despite being over 75, the age at which church dignitaries traditionally retire from their posts.

    Jan Graubner, who is 73, has served as the Archbishop of Olomouc since 1992. In 2020, he was appointed the president of the Czech Bishops’ Conference since 2020.

    In 2008, then President Václav Klaus awarded Graubner the Order of Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk II for his contribution to the development of democracy, humanity and human rights.
    Author: Ruth Fraňková

  • World’s longest suspension bridge to open in Moravia on Friday
    05/13/2022

    The world’s longest suspension footbridge is due to open to the public on Friday in the mountain resort of Dolní Morava in the northeast of the Czech Republic.

    Called Sky Bridge, it crosses a local valley at a height of 95 metres. With its length of nearly three quarters of a kilometre, it surpasses the longest suspension footbridge to date, which is in Portugal near the town of Arouca.
    Author: Ruth Fraňková

  • Czech singer Dominika Hašková reaches final of Eurovision with Lights Off
    05/13/2022

    Czech singer Dominika Hašková and her band called We Are Domi have reached Saturday’s final of the Eurovision Song Contest in Italy’s Turin.

    The singer, who is the daughter of the Czech ice hockey legend Dominik Hašek, qualified from the second semi-final on Thursday with a song called Lights Off.
    Author: Ruth Fraňková

  • Czechia plans to invite Ukrainian President Zelensky to Prague summit
    05/13/2022

    The Czech Republic wants to stage an EU summit within its forthcoming EU presidency that would be attended by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, EU Affairs Minister Mikuláš Bek told the Czech News Agency on Friday.

    According to Mr Bek, the European summit should be devoted to a key topic, such as energy security. Mr Bek also said that the government might drop the original plan to stage several events outside Prague, due to the ongoing war in Ukraine and economic problems.

    The Czech Republic is due to take over the EU presidency from France in July.
    Author: Ruth Fraňková

  • Police smash people smuggling ring active in Central and Eastern Europe
    05/13/2022

    Police have cracked down on a ring of people smugglers active in Central and Eastern Europe arresting over 200 people and seizing 80 vehicles, the APA news agency reported. Over 100 suspects were arrested in Austria, the rest in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia and Romania. Interpol worked on the case for over a year and investigators believe the crime ring helped more than 36,000 people cross European borders illegally. It is also suspected of having been involved in a shooting incident on the Austrian border and the deaths of two refugees who suffocated in a van.
    Author: Daniela Lazarová

  • Prague mayor threatens to close refugee center if government fails to act
    05/13/2022

    The mayor of Prague, Zdeněk Hřib, has warned that if the government does not create a system for a more even distribution of refugees around the country Prague will close its assistance center for refugees in Vysočany. Speaking after a meeting of the City Hall crisis staff on Thursday, the mayor said the city had exhausted its accommodation capacity and was unable to cope. He pointed out that Prague has four times more refugees per capita than some of the other regions. A tent city in being set up in Troja to accommodate the hundreds of refugees now sleeping on the floor in Prague’s main railway station.
    Author: Daniela Lazarová

  • Central bank launches interventions on foreign exchange markets over crown depreciation
    05/12/2022

    The National Bank Board has decided to launch interventions on foreign exchange markets due to the significant depreciation of the crown in recent days. The move is to offset a longer-term depreciation of the crown at a time of high inflation. Sales from the proceeds from foreign exchange reserves will be suspended for the duration of the interventions.

    The crown weakened against both major world currencies following the appointment of Aleš Michl to the post of governor. Michl opposes the current interest rate hike cycle.
    Author: Daniela Lazarová

  • Weather forecast
    05/12/2022

    Friday should be partly cloudy with rain in the eastern parts of the country and day temperatures between 21 and 25 degrees Celsius.

  • Fuel prices rising for third week in succession
    05/12/2022

    Fuel prices in the Czech Republic have risen significantly for the third week in a row. The best-selling petrol Natural 95 has risen by CZK 1.03 per litre to an average CZK 44.25 in the past week. Diesel is currently selling for CZK 46.44 per litre, which is 87 halers more than a week ago, according to data from CCS, which monitors prices. The price growth is also driven by strong demand and analysts expect a further increase in the price of fuels in the coming weeks.
    Author: Daniela Lazarová

  • Rare case of diphtheria registered in Czechia
    05/12/2022

    A woman from Vysočina had been diagnosed with a rare form of diphtheria. The source of the infection was probably a family pet, the State Health Institute said in a press release on Thursday. Diphtheria was last registered in the Czech Republic in 1995 and vaccination against the disease has been compulsory in the country since 1946. The institute has moved to allay fears of a possible spread of the disease, saying that the patient’s immunity had been severely undermined by immunosuppressant drugs.
    Author: Daniela Lazarová

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