• Over 150 make use of whistleblowers’ law in first year
    07/30/2024

    In the first year of a new Czech law protecting whistleblowers, 166 people have reported unlawful activities at their places of work to the Ministry of Justice, the Czech News Agency reported on Tuesday.

    To date 52 of these reports have gone to the relevant authorities, such as the police or labour inspectorate. Another 105 were deemed unfounded or not covered by the law, the ministry said.

    The anti-corruption group Oživení (Revival) said that whistleblowers should also be given the option of anonymous submissions and effective legal assistance against retaliation.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Swimmer Seemanová finishes sixth in Olympics
    07/30/2024

    Czech swimmer Barbora Seemanová finished sixth in the women’s 200m freestyle at the Olympic Games in Paris. Seemanová, who was the only European in Monday night’s final, also finished sixth at the previous Olympics in Tokyo. The 24-year-old said it was a solid result but she was disappointed at not setting a new personal record.

    Earlier slalom canoeist Lukáš Rohan also finished sixth in Paris, failing to equal the bronze medal he earned three years go.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Russian Foreign Ministry summons Czech official over smuggling accusation
    07/29/2024

    The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday summoned Czechia’s chargé d'affaires in Moscow, Jan Ondřejka, to protest about what the Reuters news agency described as an attempt to smuggle powerful drugs or recreational substances by an administrative/technical staff member at the Czech Embassy in the Russian capital.

    The Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed to the Czech Press Agency that the diplomat had taken in part in such a meeting at the Russian Foreign Ministry but did not provide more detailed information.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Krejčíková advances to round of 16 at Paris Olympics
    07/29/2024

    Czech tennis player Barbora Krejčíková has advanced to the round of 16 in the women’s singles at the Olympic Games in Paris. The recent Wimbledon champion, who is 28, overcame Wang Xinyu of China 6-3 6-2 with relative ease in their second round tie at Roland Garros on Monday.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Weather forecast
    07/29/2024

    It should be mainly sunny in Czechia on Tuesday, with an average high temperature of 26 degrees Celsius. The following days are expected to be overcast.

  • Police detain 139 migrants passing through Czechia in first half of 2024
    07/29/2024

    The Czech police detained 139 migrants using Czechia as a country of transit in the first half of 2024, according to a migration police statement on Monday. This was 660 fewer than in the same period last year.

    The most common countries of origin of those detained were Syria, Ethiopia, Afghanistan, Eritrea and Turkey.

    A police spokesperson said the refugees’ most common destination was Germany, followed by other Western European states.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Burčák to go on sale relatively early this year
    07/29/2024

    Burčák, which is partially fermented young wine, should go on sale in Czechia relatively early this year, the Czech News Agency reported on Monday.

    One winemaker, Miloslav Machuča from Úvaly near Valtice in the Břeclav region, said that he had already started harvesting his first grapes and would start selling burčák on August 1, the first day the drink may be sold.

    This year’s growing season has accelerated the ripening process and the 2024 harvest should be better than those seen in recent years, Mr. Machuča said.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Ministry: Ore Mountains to become protected landscape area
    07/29/2024

    The Czech Ministry of the Environment has begun the process of having the Ore Mountains (Krušné hory) in the northwest of the country declared a protected landscape area. With a proposed territory of around 1,200 square kilometres it will be the largest such area in Czechia.

    In a statement issued on Monday, ministry officials said that the Ore Mountains should be declared a protected landscape area in mid-2026.

    There are currently 26 protected landscape areas in Czechia, covering nearly 15 percent of the area of the country.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Lipavský: Expo 2025 head failing to secure sufficient private sector funding
    07/29/2024

    The Czech minister of foreign affairs, Jan Lipavský, says that the head of the Czech pavilion at Expo 2025, Ondřej Soška, has failed to generate enough money from private firms, Deník N reported on Monday. Mr. Soška won a selection procedure for the commissioner general’s post in 2022 after promising to raise CZK 200 million from the private sector but has not yet obtained half of that amount, the news site said.

    Mr. Lipavský said he had repeatedly warned Mr. Soška that the funds secured above the amount approved by the Czech government were insufficient and that he needed to be more active.

    The 2025 World Expo will be held in the Japanese city of Osaka from April to October next year.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Ed Sheeran concerts attract nearly 100,000 people
    07/29/2024

    Nearly 100,000 people attended two concerts by UK singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran in Hradec Králové on Saturday and Sunday night, the organisers said.

    The concerts were part of Sheeran’s Mathematics World Tour, which was launched in Dublin in April 2022 and will conclude in Dusseldorf in 2025.

    Tickets for the first show sold out within hours so a second one was added for the following evening. The multiple Grammy and Brit Award winner had previously played in Prague in 2019.
    Author: Ruth Fraňková

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