• Czech Christians celebrate Easter Sunday
    03/31/2024

    Christians in Czechia are celebrating Easter Sunday, one of the most significant days in their faith’s calendar. With regard to folk traditions, many Czechs eat a meat-based lunch on the Feast of the Resurrection, breaking a long symbolic fast, while eggs are painted for the following day.

    Easter Monday is more closely associated with customs linked to the arrival of spring. These include males lightly “whipping” females with switches braided from willow branches and adorned with ribbons.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • November 2nd take Anděl for Album of Year
    03/31/2024

    The 2023 Album of the Year prize at the Anděl (Angel) Awards, the Czech equivalent of the Grammys, has gone to the band November 2nd for their record of the same name.

    David Koller and Pam Rabbit took the male and female Solo Artist of the Year gongs in the Anděl Awards, which are organised by the Czech Music Academy. Veteran entertainer Jiří Korn, who is 74, was inducted into the organisation’s Hall of Fame during Saturday evening’s awards ceremony in Prague.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Great Czech painter Věra Nováková dies at 96
    03/31/2024

    The Czech painter Věra Nováková has died at the age of 96. Nováková, who was also a sculptor and book illustrator, is considered one of the most original Czech artists of the 20th century.

    Born in 1928, she was expelled from art school in Prague a year after the Communist takeover. She married another hugely respected artist, Pavel Brázda, in 1950 and the pair worked mainly outside official structures for the next four decades. Her first major exhibition took place after the Velvet Revolution.

    “I went through almost the entire 20th century and experienced two totalitarian systems – Hitler’s and Stalin’s. Four years after the end of the war, I was expelled from the Academy of Fine Arts because I did not fit for building a socialist paradise, which was true,” Věra Nováková said in 2022.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Weather forecast
    03/31/2024

    It should be mainly overcast in Czechia on Monday, with an average high temperature of 19 degrees Celsius. Temperatures in the mid-teens Celsius are expected on the following days.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Number of post boxes in Czechia falls by 10 percent
    03/30/2024

    The number of public post boxes in Czechia via which people can send letters or postcards has fallen by 10th in the last five years to 17,600, the Czech News Agency reported on Saturday.

    The reason for the decline is lower interest in sending mail and the fact that there used to be an overabundance of letterboxes, a spokesperson for Czech Post said.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Media: Czech arms makers prospering due to Ukraine, global tensions
    03/30/2024

    Czech arms manufacturers are thriving due to the war in Ukraine and increased tensions in the world, the news site Novinky.cz reported on Saturday.

    Some of the country’s biggest companies in the field declared record revenues last year, such as Colt CZ, which reported almost CZK 15 billion. Czechoslovak Group (CSG) and Omnipol also registered very good results in 2023.

    This year is looking even more favourable for most Czech arms companies, Novinky.cz said. Supply chains are slowly improving, banks’ willingness to lend is higher and energy prices have fallen.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Revolving head of David Lynch by David Černý installed in California
    03/30/2024

    A five-tonne revolving metal head of the movie director David Lynch by the Czech artist David Černý has been installed in Santa Monica, California, Los Angeles Magazine reported. The 21-foot-high structure stands in front of a new apartment complex in the city.

    The artwork is reminiscent of a revolving head of writer Franz Kafka in Prague by Mr. Černý, which has become a popular destination for tourists in recent years.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Relatives seek compensation for mental hospital fire deaths
    03/30/2024

    The relatives of nine men who died in a fire at a mental hospital in Veyprty, North Bohemia four years ago are seeking a total of more than CZK 14.5 million in compensation, the news outlet Deník N reported.

    The state prosecutor has charged Viktor Koláček, the director of the local social services authority in Vejprty, in connection with the case. He faces three to 10 years in prison for general reckless endangerment if found guilty.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Survey suggests Czech Easter traditions in decline
    03/30/2024

    Only 21 percent of Czechs today make pomlázky, the symbolic whip made from willow branches, suggests a survey for the Median agency conducted for the news site iRozhlas.cz. Fewer people decorate their homes and paint Easter eggs than in the past, the survey indicates, while seasonal carol singing is considerably less common.

    The poll suggests that Czechs most commonly – 40 percent – regard the Easter holiday as a primarily a symbol of the coming of spring.

    Some 22 percent of respondents said they attended a church service in connection with the holiday.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Politico: Lipavský target of Chinese hackers
    03/30/2024

    The Czech foreign minister, Jan Lipavský, was the target of hackers linked to China, Politico reported. Mr. Lipavský and other members of a coalition of lawmakers critical of Beijing called the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC), including the UK’s Europe minister, were the victims of a targeted attack on email addresses in 2021, the news site said.

    The Czech foreign policy chief told Politico that the revelation proved the assessment of his country’s Security Strategy, which says that the rising assertiveness of China is a systemic challenge that needs to be dealt with in coordination with trans-Atlantic allies.

    The US, the UK and other countries released information about the online campaign by Chinese state-linked hackers this week.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

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