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The Czech army is preparing for a worst-case scenario –a global military conflict with the use of nuclear weapons, Czech army-chief-of staff, Karel Řehka, said at an assembly of the army command on Tuesday. The escalation potential is growing and if a conflict between Russia and NATO were to break out, the Czech army would be an active participant from the first minute, Řehka said, noting that such a conflict would impact the country’s military, its infrastructure and the life of its citizens. The general said that aside from Russia there was a growing threat from international terrorism. Addressing the gathering, President Petr Pavel spoke about the explosive situation in the Middle East. The terrorist attack by the Palestinian radical movement Hamas was intended to provoke a very strong reaction from Israel and thus turn international public opinion against the Jewish state, Pavel said.

Around 150 people gathered outside UNICEF’s Prague headquarters on Monday evening to draw attention to the fate of the Israeli children who were abducted by Hamas on October 7. The organizers of the event, held on World Children’s Day, urged UNICEF to make a bigger effort to secure their release. Participants held teddy bears and banners reading Bring Them Home Now as they marched to Old Town Square, where they lit candles next to photos of the missing children.

Hamas radicals kidnapped over 200 people during the attacks on Israel on October 7, among them some 30 children.

Thousands of children in schools around the country took part in a “Drumming Against Child Abuse and Domestic Violence” event on Monday. According to the organizers from Locika Centre, which helps abused children, the drums were to signify that children must be heard and none should remain silent victims of abuse. The event was organized in connection with International Day for Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect observed on November 19, and World Children's Day on November 20. Over 43,000 children from 320 schools around the country took part. There will be lectures and debates all week long on preventing child abuse and helping child victims.

Czech police are investigating a case of sexual coercion on social media involving teenagers. They have charged a 22-year-old man who threatened two girls that he would publish intimate photographs and videos that they had sent him, if they refused to have sex with him. If convicted the man could face a sentence of up to five years in prison. In connection with this case, the police have urged young people to exercise greater caution when communicating with strangers on the internet and for parents to be more aware of what their teenage children are doing on social networks.