• 10/17/2024

    Starting next school year, school cafeterias in Czechia will serve meals with less salt, sugar, packet soups, and sugary drinks. Meals will feature fewer dairy products and meat but larger portions of the latter. Experts have sent the Ministry of Education recommendations to update the 30-year-old consumption guidelines, aiming for healthier meals. The proposed changes are expected to take effect in September without a transition period, said Jan Mareš, Director of the Ministry’s Education and Youth section, during a press conference. Approximately 1.5 million children eat in school cafeterias daily.

    Author: Vít Pohanka
  • 10/17/2024

    The Ukrainian population in the Czech Republic, predominantly young and female, presents a promising opportunity for the country, says migration expert Marie Jelínková from Charles University. However, in an interview with Czech Radio, she warns that despite this, Czechia hesitates to introduce the structural changes needed to support their integration. According to Jelínková, around 380,000 Ukrainian refugees currently reside in the country, with approximately two-thirds wishing to remain. She highlights the strong tendency for temporary migration to become permanent, a pattern observed in previous migration waves.

    Author: Vít Pohanka
  • 10/17/2024

    The Regional Court in Brno dismissed a complaint filed by Hana Hajnová, the Vysočina leader of the Pirate Party, concerning this year's regional elections in Vysočina. Hajnová sought to annul the mandates of representatives from the opposition coalition of SPD, Trikolora, and PRO, alleging that their campaign violated constitutional principles. However, the court ruled that it had not been proven that the campaign influenced the election outcome. A second complaint regarding the miscounting of preferential votes for a Pirate candidate in the Třebíč district is still pending.

    Author: Vít Pohanka
  • 10/17/2024

    Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds will present their new album Wild God in Prague on Thursday, ahead of its release in late summer 2025. The concert at the O2 arena marks the band’s return to the city after three years. Last performing in 2022 at the Metronome Prague festival, Cave described Wild God as "complex, yet deeply and joyously infectious." Collaborators on the album include Colin Greenwood from Radiohead and guitarist Luis Almau. Cave, known for his diverse career spanning punk, rock, and ballads, remains a prolific musician and artist, with notable works in both film and literature.

    Author: Vít Pohanka
  • 10/17/2024

    The government has released CZK 3 billion for flood relief, Environment Minister Petr Hladík told the  CTK news agency. One billion is to help households and two billion will be used to rebuild water supply, sewage systems and sewage treatment plants. The cabinet has already transferred the money to the budgets of the Environment Ministry and the State Environmental Fund, from where it will be distributed further. According to Minister Hladík, municipalities should start receiving the financial aid within the next two days.

  • 10/17/2024

    The animals rights group We Don't Eat Animals has released secretly taken footage from twelve cow farms showing employees beating, kicking, hitting, and dragging animals behind a tractor by chains wrapped around their necks. The number of documented cases, they said, proves that these are not isolated incidents or individual misconduct, but are a routine practice. The State Veterinary Administration has said it is looking into the matter. Petr Majer, a spokesman for the Administration, told Czech Radio that the footage clearly shows that the law against animal cruelty had been violated. He said the Veterinary Administration is not ruling out the possibility of criminal charges being filed.

  • 10/16/2024

    The Fiala government has decided not to proceed with the development of the digitalized construction management system launched in July of this year. Transport Minister Martin Kupka, who was temporarily appointed coordinator for the development of the project following the sacking of the deputy prime minister for digitalization Ivan Bartoš, said the system not only fails to meet user expectations but also the respective legal requirements. The government will draft a new tender for the project, which should be completed by 2028, he said.

  • 10/16/2024

    The government has approved a draft treaty between the Czech Republic and the Vatican, Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský announced after Wednesday’s cabinet meeting. The agreement protects the freedom of religion of citizens and legally anchors clerical services in social and health care institutions or in prisons and the army. According to the foreign minister, it ultimately protects not only the interests of the Catholic Church, but all other churches and religions that people practice on the territory of the Czech Republic. Czechia is one of the last European countries to sign a treaty with the Vatican. Minister Lipavský said the text of the treaty will be available to the public after it is signed, on October 24.

  • 10/16/2024

    Thursday should be clear to partly cloudy and dry with daytime highs between 13 and 17 degrees Celsius.

  • 10/16/2024

    Outpatient specialists will join the two-day strike of general practitioners announced for the end of October. They disagree with the healthcare funding decree for 2025, arguing that it fails to take into account rising costs. Most surgeries will be closed on Tuesday, 29 October and Wednesday, 30 October. Emergency contacts should be available.

    Hospitals will not join the strike action, although according to Milan Kubek, president of the Czech Medical Chamber the chamber supports the protest of general practitioners and outpatient specialists. He said that Health Minister Vlastimil Válek should not interpret this decision as a sign of weakness, but rather as willingness to further negotiations.

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