• 10/26/2019

    The Czech Republic has the fifth largest increase in HIV cases in the period between 2010 and 2018, according to the results of a study published by Politico. It is an increase of 128 percent.

    The Philippines top the ladder (203 percent), followed by Egypt (196 percent) and Madagascar (193 percent). Slovakia placed sixth with a 106 percent increase.

    According to the National Reference Laboratory for HIV/AIDS there are currently 3,488 persons registered HIV positive in the Czech Republic, of which 3010 are men. 653 persons have developed full-blown AIDS and 307 have died of AIDS.

    121 new HIV cases were registered in the Czech Republic in the first 6 months of this year.

  • 10/26/2019

    Ripping off unsuspecting foreigners is a relatively widespread practice in Prague's grocery stores, according to the results of a study conducted by Czech economists and published in the Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics.

    In the study, the authors put 260 Prague grocery stores to the test with the help of volunteers posing as foreigners who are not well acquainted with the Czech currency, and are therefore easy targets. They were ripped off in a fifth of the stores tested.

  • 10/26/2019

    Prague Castle has opened the otherwise inaccessible Deer Moat to the public in connection with the celebrations of Czechoslovak Independence Day on October 28th. The Deer Moat is open to the public from 10am until 3pm at the weekend.

    It will be made accessible to visitors one more time this year on November 16 -17, on the 30th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution.

    The Deer Moat has been completely closed to visitors this year, as have the Castle’s Southern Gardens due to reconstruction work.

  • 10/26/2019

    A stretch of the C-line of Prague’s metro will be out of operation throughout the three-day weekend due to scheduled repair work on the tracks, the Prague Transport Authority says on its web page.

    Trains will not run between the stations Muzeum and Pražského povstání from early Saturday until late Monday night. A substitute bus service XC will be in place.

    There will also be traffic restrictions on Čechův bridge and Libeň bridge.

  • 10/26/2019

    The police is investigating the highest number of rapes in ten years, Czech Radio reported. 525 rapes were reported in the first eight months of this year which is a record number.

    Experts say that thanks to the work of NGOs and the #MeToo campaign the stigma surrounding rape is gradually disappearing and more women have the courage to speak out.

    Even so NGOs say that only a fraction of rapes gets reported in the Czech Republic, an estimated one in ten.

  • 10/26/2019

    The culture ministry has prepared a list of new national cultural monuments that is to be assessed by the government at its next session.

    Among the seven new sites proposed are the grave of the country’s first president Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk at Lány and the church of Cyril and Methodius in Prague’s Resslova street where the seven paratroopers who assassinated Nazi Reichsprotektor Reinhard Heydrich hid until they were tracked down by the SS.

    National cultural monuments are sites that are linked to significant milestones and outstanding personalities in the country’s history. There are close to 300 sites on the list to date.

  • 10/25/2019

    Czech singer Karel Gott will be laid to rest in Prague’s Malvazinky Cemetery according to his wishes, his widow, Ivana, said in a press release issued on Friday.

    Gott, who sold tens of millions of albums in a career spanning six decades, succumbed to cancer at the start of October at the age of 80.

    He was given a funeral with state honours, including a mass at St. Vitus Cathedral. In her press release, his widow also thanked the public for turning out for his funeral.

    Author: Brian Kenety
  • 10/25/2019

    The WTA's elite eight – including Czech players Petra Kvitová and Karolína Plíšková – were drawn on Friday into two groups for round robin singles play at the inaugural Shiseido WTA Finals Shenzhen.

    Top seed and French Open champion Ashleigh Barty headlines the Red Group, and is joined by Australian Open winner Naomi Osaka, 2011 champion Petra Kvitová, seeded No.6, and semi-finalist Belinda Bencic, seeded No.7.

    No.2 seed Karolína Plíšková, the tour leader with four singles titles this year, tops the Purple Group, drawn with US Open champion Bianca Andreescu, the No.4 seed, Wimbledon winner Simona Halep and defending champion Elina Svitolina, seeded No.8.

    The matches will be set through a raffle. Apart from Kvitová and Plíšková, three Czechs will participate in the doubles competition: Barbora Strýcová, Barbora Krejčíková and Kateřina Siniaková.

    Author: Brian Kenety
  • 10/25/2019

    Supreme State Attorney Pavel Zeman said on Friday he would take a high-profile corruption case involving former Central Bohemia governor David Rath to the country’s highest court.

    Rath was convicted of taking bribes to rig public contracts in 2012, and sentenced to seven years in prison last June after losing numerous appeals. His main accomplices, a hospital director and her husband, were sentenced to six years.

    Apart from procedural issues, Zeman argues the judges should not have dismissed damning wiretapping and other evidence in the original trial, which resulted in reduced sentences.

    Rath was accused of manipulating tenders for the reconstruction of Buštěhrad Castle in Kladno and an elite high school in Hostivice, as well as for purchasing equipment for Central Bohemia hospitals and a seniors’ home in Kladno. Ten others were indicted on related charges.

    Author: Brian Kenety
  • 10/25/2019

    Ministry of Culture official Zuzana Malcová and ethnologist Jan Krist have been awarded the annual Artis Bohemiae Amicis Prize (“Friends of Czech Culture”).

    The laureates helped get new Czech monuments on the UNESCO World Heritage List – the uniquely preserved mining landscape of Krušné hory – Erzgebirge, and the national horse stud farm in Kladruby, Central Bohemia.

    At a meeting in December, the possibility of including Czech glass Christmas decorations on the prestigious UNESCO list will be considered.

    Author: Brian Kenety

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