News

Residents in the Zlín area have been advised to exercise caution after a brown bear was sighted on the outskirts of the town. The animal was first spotted on Saturday morning by a local man, who went for a run to a forest near Zlín.

The animal’s presence was later confirmed by experts, who examined its traces. According to their size, the animal could weigh up to 200 kilograms. The police advised people to avoid densely overgrown areas and keep their dogs on a leash when walking in a forest.

A Holocaust Memorial for Roma and Sinti opened to the public on Sunday at the site of a former concentration camp in Lety, south Bohemia, with a commemorative ceremony.

Over 1,300 Roma passed through the camp between 1942 and 1943 and more than 300 died there, mostly women and children. Over 500 inmates were sent to extermination camps.

The memorial includes a place of remembrance and a visitor centre with a permanent exhibition that presents testimonies of witnesses in audiovisual form.

The site originally served as a pig farm and it took close to three decades for post-communist governments to buy out the property and erect a dignified memorial in its place.

Among those attending the comemorative event. on Sunday was Senate speaker Miloš Vystrčil, who stressed the importance of creating values for the future.

Czechs also won their second game at the Ice Hockey World Championship, coming up from two goals deficit to beat Norway 6-3 in Prague on Saturday. Two goals were scored by captain Roman Červenka, who played his 200th national team game.

The 38-year-old Červenka opened the scoring in the seventh minute, but Norway tied the game after 31 seconds and quickly took a 3-1 lead. By the break, Červenka managed to reduce the deficit. Ondřej Beránek equalised in the second period, with Matěj Stránský, Libor Hájek and Ondřej Palát adding the last three goals.

The Czech ice hockey team will next face Switzerland on Monday.

The introduction of postal voting for Czechs living abroad is awaiting final approval in the lower house. The voting could take place later this month. The second reading of the bill lasted for two days due to filibustering by the opposition, taking approximately 20 hours.

The coalition government wants the bill passed before the next parliamentary elections in autumn 2025, saying it would strengthen Czech citizens' right to vote by providing them with more options. However, the opposition fears that votes could be manipulated or interfered with if sent by mail.