News

Alsu Kurmasheva, a Russian-American journalist who lived in the Czech Republic and worked for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty was released from a Russian prison on Wednesday within a large-scale prisoner swap between Russia, the U.S. and several European countries, the International Press Institute reported.

Kurmasheva, a mother of two, was detained by the Russian authorities on a visit to her parents last October and sentenced to six-and-a-half years in jail for failing to register as a foreign agent.

In addition, Russian authorities reportedly freed activists and other regime critics such as Vladimir Kara-Murza, Ilya Yashin, and Sasha Skochilenko. According to the International Press Institute at least 15 political prisoners were set free from Russian prisons within the swap.

The Czech National Reference Laboratory has confirmed rabies in a bat which bit a person last week. The incident happened in the North Moravian city of Ostrava. Transmission of this specific rabies virus variant to humans is rare and the bitten person is under medical supervision. Nevertheless, the public is advised to avoid contact with suspicous acting wild animals and report them to the authorities. This is the sixth rabies case in bats in Czechia. The last rabies case in other animals was in 2002.

Andrej Babiš, the former Czech prime minister and leader of the opposition ANO party, has succeeded in his appeal to the Supreme Court in a dispute with the governing Pirate Party over a social media post about migrants. Babiš suggested that the Pirates wanted to settle migrants into people's homes. The Prague High Court had previously ordered Babiš to delete the post, but the Supreme Court decision requires the High Court to reconsider the case. The dispute began in 2021 before the parliamentary elections. Babiš argued that his comments about the Pirates' plans were exaggerated campaign rhetoric. The final decision from the High Court is still pending.

Czechia has sent a Blackhawk helicopter equipped with a Bambi bucket and three firefighters to North Macedonia to help contain the forest fires that have been raging in the Negrevo and Kumanevo districts for three days now. One person died in the blaze and several villages have had to be evacuated. Extreme temperatures and strong winds in the Western Balkans are complicating the rescue effort. The Czech emergency team left for the Macedonian capital Skopje on Wednesday evening and joined the rescue effort on Thursday.