• 02/17/2024

    Czech Railways has reported a near-collision on the route close to Havlíčkův Brod on Friday afternoon, when two trains almost crashed, stopping just 37 metres apart. According to Czech Railways,  one of the train drivers missed a red light and ran into the path of a passenger train travelling from Havlíčkův Brod to Žďár nad Sázavou. Both trains managed to stop at the last minute. No one was reported injured. The incident is being investigated by the Railway Inspectorate.

  • 02/17/2024

    The Czech government has rejected Russia's objection to freezing almost all Russian assets in Czechia, Czech Television reported citing foreign ministry sources. The freeze, which the Czech government approved in November of last year, concerns some 70 properties owned by a Russian state company in Prague, Central Bohemia and Karlovy Vary. The Kremlin criticized the move as “unlawful” and threatened to retaliate. The freeze came as part of sanctions made in response to Russia’s fullscale invasion of Ukraine. Buildings used by the Russian embassy for diplomatic purposes are excluded from the sanctions, since they are protected by diplomatic immunity.

  • 02/17/2024

    Around 300 protesters gathered in front of the Russian Embassy in Prague on Friday evening after news broke that the jailed opposition leader Alexey Navalny had died in prison. People brought flowers, lit candles and carried placards reading “Putin is to blame”. On a nearby tree, his supporters taped a photo of Navalny and an inscription in Cyrillic that read "We will not forget and we will not forgive", a phrase the opposition leader often used in the past in connection with the practices of the Putin regime.

    Commemorative gatherings at which people paid tribute to Navalny and blamed Putin for his death have been taking place around Europe.

  • 02/16/2024

    Czechia has been an active participant in an international operation against the activities of the Russian intelligence services, the country’s prime minister, Petr Fiala, said on social media on Friday.

    The director of America’s FBI revealed on Thursday that the US and partners around the world had tackled Russian government hackers within the operation, which was named Dying Embers.

    Mr. Fiala said that Czechia had to defend its cyberspace and respond to global threats in cooperation with allies and partners. Mutual trust and the ability to cooperate flexibly are key to ensuring security, he said.

    Author: Ian Willoughby
  • 02/16/2024

    The government last month rejected an objection to the inclusion of a Russian asset management company on Czechia’s national sanctions list, Czech Television reported, citing a spokesperson for the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

    The firm operates and manages a number of properties in Czechia that are owned by the Russian Federation, mostly in Prague or Karlovy Vary.

    The Czech government included the company on its sanctions list in mid-November and decided to freeze its assets, a move Moscow described as unlawful.

    Author: Ian Willoughby
  • 02/16/2024

    The current mild weather in Czechia is having an impact on visitor numbers at the country’s mountain resorts, the Czech News Agency reported.

    Unusually high temperatures for February is causing snow to melt quickly and some skiers were driven off the slopes by rain on Friday.

    In response some resorts have suspended or reduced their services, or are planning to do some from next week, despite Czech children’s spring school holidays.

    Author: Ian Willoughby
  • 02/16/2024

    It should be mainly overcast in Czechia on Saturday, with an average high temperature of 10 degrees Celsius. Similar weather, with the chance of rain, is expected on the following days.

    Author: Ian Willoughby
  • 02/16/2024

    A Czech top flight ice hockey game will be held outdoors at a venue in Germany on Saturday. The Extraliga game, a West Bohemian derby between Karlovy Vary and Plzeň, will be held at the Klingenthal ski jumping arena in Saxony as part of an event named Hockey Triple Outdoor.

    It will be the sixth outdoor game in the history of the league.

    Author: Ian Willoughby
  • 02/16/2024

    Responding to the death of Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny, the Czech minister of foreign affairs, Jan Lipavský, said Moscow treated its own citizens in the same way it treated foreign policy.

    Mr. Lipavský said on social media that Russia was a violent state that killed its own people who dreamt of a better future, such as Boris Nemtsov and Navalny. He said the latter had been imprisoned and tortured to death for standing up to President Putin.

    Navalny had been in a Russian prison since 2021 on charges that were widely viewed as politically motivated.

    Author: Ian Willoughby
  • 02/16/2024

    Charles University’s main Faculty of Arts building in Prague, the site of a mass shooting in December, partly reopened to students and staff on Friday.

    Dubbed a “pre-opening” of the institution, it was an informal gathering that allowed the students and faculty members to enter the building in the downtown area without attending a lecture or due to some other obligation. The summer semester is set to begin at the Faculty of Arts on Monday.

    On December 14 people were killed and two dozen injured when a student went on a shooting spree at the building, days after he had murdered a man and his baby daughter in a wooded area near Prague.

    Author: Ian Willoughby

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