• 07/19/2024

    Several more Czech businesses and services were hit by the global IT services outage on Friday. Most BENU pharmacies in the country were closed, and the online prescription service eRecept was also not working. Insurance company Allianz, one of the biggest in the country, announced that its call centre, online services and assistance service were all unavailable due to the outage.

    The music festival Colours of Ostrava, currently taking place in the east Moravian capital, was also hit. The festival organisers announced that Iranian-Dutch singer Sevdaliza would not be performing on the main stage at her scheduled time of 8pm on Friday as her flight had been cancelled due to the outage. The festival said it was trying to make arrangements for the singer to get to Czechia so she could perform on Saturday instead.

    Czech Interior Minister Vít Rakušan had written earlier in the day on social media site X that banking and healthcare systems in Czechia had not been affected.

    Author: Anna Fodor
  • 07/19/2024

    Saturday is expected to be overcast but warm, with daytime temperatures of between 21 and 27 degrees Celsius.

    Author: Anna Fodor
  • 07/19/2024

    Several hectares of crops were destroyed by a fire in a grain field in South Moravia around noon on Friday. Several firefighting units were called to the scene as a second degree Fire Alert Level was declared. The firefighters managed to extinguish the fire, but the cause of the blaze is so far still unknown.

    The fire occurred in a field in Terezín in South Morava, not to be confused with Terezín in the Ústí nad Labem Region, which was the site of a Jewish ghetto and concentration camp during World War II.

    Author: Anna Fodor
  • 07/19/2024

    NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day on Friday was of anticrepuscular rays seen during a sunset in Brno, taken by Czech astronomer Pavel Gabzdyl. The picture was taken on 11 July during the city's annual Planet Festival in the park below the Brno Observatory and Planetarium.

    Anticrepuscular rays are subtle bands of light and shadow cast across the sky, formed as a large cloud bank near the western horizon cast long shadows through the atmosphere at sunset. Due to the camera's perspective, the rays seem to converge toward the opposite horizon at a point just above a 14th-century hilltop castle near Brno.

    Author: Anna Fodor
  • 07/19/2024

    Some departures were delayed by several hours and two flights were suspended at Prague's Václav Havel Airport on Friday due to a global IT services outage, which caused airports, banks, hospitals, media outlets, and businesses around the world to grind to a halt.

    Cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike admitted that a defect in one of its software updates was to blame. According to experts, the botched update, which was supposed to increase security, caused Windows to become unstable and caused problems for computers running Microsoft's Windows operating system. This had a domino effect on other global computer systems, including the GoNow check-in system at Prague Airport used by a large number of airlines, including Eurowings, Ryanair, and Vueling.

    The airport wrote on social media site X that the situation was out of their control and they could not predict when things would improve. They asked passengers to be patient as check-in on the affected flights was having to be done manually or via substitute systems, a much slower process that was causing flights to be delayed.

    Author: Anna Fodor
  • 07/19/2024

    The construction of a new concert hall in Ostrava officially got underway on Friday. The foundation stone was laid in the presence of President Petr Pavel and the US architect Steven Holl, who designed the new building.

    The construction of the concert hall, which is connected with the reconstruction of the House of Culture of the City of Ostrava, is expected to last until 2027. The entire project is expected to cost approximately CZK 4 billion. The new complex will be used as a music, cultural and educational facility and will also house the Janáček Philharmonic Orchestra.

    Author: Ruth Fraňková
  • 07/19/2024

    Czech MEPs could hold two senior committee positions in the new European Parliament. Veronika Vrecionová (Civic Democrats) of the European Conservatives and Reformists could become chairwoman of the influential Agriculture and Rural Development Committee, while Luděk Niedermayer (TOP 09) of the European People's Party is likely to be re-elected as vice-chairman of the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee, sources from both groups told the Czech News Agency.

    The election of the chairs and vice-chairs of parliamentary committees will take place next week in Brussels. The official composition of all committees should be announced next Friday. According to a document cited by the Czech News Agency, all Czech MEPs are on at least one committee.

    Author: Ruth Fraňková
  • 07/18/2024

    Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala signed an agreement on security cooperation and long-term support with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on the sidelines of the European Political Community summit in Oxford on Thursday.

    Prior to the signing, Mr. Fiala told reporters that the agreement was not a legally binding international treaty, but was an important symbol, framing existing cooperation and creating space for future cooperation.

    Mr. Zelensky expressed his thanks to the Czech prime minister and said the agreement was another step in expanding cooperation between the two countries in the security sector.

    Author: Ruth Fraňková
  • 07/18/2024

    Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala will attend the opening ceremony of the Summer Olympic Games in Paris next week at the invitation of the French president, Emmanuel Macron.

    The Czech head of government will also be present at the opening of the Czech Olympic House and will meet the representatives of the country’s Olympic team, government spokeswoman Lucie Ješátková told the Czech News Agency on Thursday.

    The Games will begin on July 26 and will feature some 11,000 athletes from more than 200 countries, including 113 Czechs.

    Author: Ruth Fraňková
  • 07/18/2024

    The Czech president, Petr Pavel, received Wimbledon winners Barbora Krejčíková and Kateřina Siniaková at Prague Castle on Thursday to thank them for successfully representing Czechia abroad.

    Krejčíková won the women’s singles title for the first time last Saturday for the second Grand Slam of her tennis career, while Siniaková, Krejčíková’s former doubles partner, took the women’s doubles trophy.

    The Czech head of state also welcomed Jana Kovačková, who won the girls’ under 14 singles title.

    Author: Ruth Fraňková

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