• 10/19/2024

    The Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the Czech Academy of Sciences is opening a laboratory in Boston. The move puts the institute in proximity to world-leading scientific institutions, such as Harvard University, MIT, and Boston Medical Center. As the first institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences to establish an overseas branch, IOCB will track the latest trends in biomedical research in the very heart of the global scientific community. The launch of the new lab in the United States marks a major boost for Czech science.

  • 10/19/2024

    Czech Health Minister Vlastimil Válek will meet next week with GPs and outpatient specialists who are planning a two-day strike at the end of October. The protest is against the healthcare funding decree for 2025, which doctors say fails to take into account rising costs. Hospitals have said they will not join the strike action, although according to Milan Kubek, president of the Czech Medical Chamber, the Chamber supports the protest of general practitioners and outpatient specialists. The strike is planned for October 29 to October 30.

  • 10/19/2024

    Petr Witowski, the general director of the Prague Transport Company, has said he has no intention of resigning in connection with the massive fraud scandal in the company. Police raided the company’s offices on Monday initiating criminal proceedings against 13 individuals for suspected bribery involving public contracts. Although Witowski was not among those charged, Prague Mayor Bohuslav Svoboda on Friday called for his resignation, together with that of implicated. He also called for an open competition to fill the top post. Witowski said that in such a case he would apply for the job.

  • 10/18/2024

    Agriculture Minister Marek Výborný was elected leader of the Christian Democrats at the party’s conference in Olomouc on Friday. He was elected by 159 votes out of 266 cast, defeating the incumbent party chair Marian Jurečka. Výborný returns to the top post after a five year break. He resigned as party leader in January 2020 following the death of his wife. The old-new leader told reporters that his main task would be to increase the party’s popularity ahead of the 2025 general elections.

  • 10/18/2024

    Saturday should be partly cloudy to overcast with daytime highs between 12 and 17 degrees Celsius.

  • 10/18/2024

    Army recruitment is not going as well as the army needs, according to Chief of the General Staff Karel Řehka. This year's recruitment numbers are not good, Řehka told reporters at the opening of an exhibition in Prague marking twenty years since the abolition of compulsory military service. He did not specify exact numbers. According to a Defence Ministry report, the military had 27,800 conscripted soldiers and just over 4,000 active reserve members at the beginning of this year. According to strategic plans, by 2030 the army would like to have 30,000 conscripted soldiers and 10,000 members of active reserves.

  • 10/18/2024

    Prague Mayor Bohuslav Svoboda has demanded the immediate resignation of all Prague Transport Company (DPP) officials implicated in a case of massive fraud at the company currently under investigation. Police officers from the National Centre Against Organized Crime raided the company’s offices on Monday and subsequently initiated criminal proceedings against 13 individuals for suspected bribery involving public contracts at the Prague Public Transport company. The mayor said at a press briefing on Friday that he was calling an emergency meeting of the City Council to deal with the matter.

  • 10/18/2024

    The Prague Municipal Court has dismissed a complaint against the Czech government brought by the Russian Enterprise for the Administration of Assets Abroad over its inclusion on the national sanctions list. The company, known as Goszagransobstvennost, manages buildings and land in the Czech Republic that are in Russian state ownership. The verdict is legally binding but an appeal to the Supreme Administrative Court is still possible. The freeze affects roughly 70 properties primarily in Prague and Karlovy Vary. The measure does not apply to the Russian embassy or the ambassador's residence.

  • 10/18/2024

    A giraffe calf of the critically endangered Rothschild breed was born in the Safari Park Dvůr Králové nad Labem on Monday, the zoo’s spokesman Michal Št'astný told the CTK news agency. The safari park is actively involved in the international effort to save the breed.  So far a total of 278 giraffes have been born in Dvůr Králové. Of these, 184 are Rothschild's giraffes and the remaining 94 are reticulated giraffes. The first Rothschild's giraffe calf was born in 1972.

  • 10/18/2024

    The establishment of the Krušné hory (Ore Mountains) Protected Landscape Area could be finalized by 2026, Environment Minister Petr Hladík informed the ctk news agency. Municipalities, forest owners and other interested parties can send comments on the proposed division of the area into various level protection zones until the end of October. Hladík said that the ministry will try to take all relevant comments into account. The Krušné hory Protected Landscape Area should be the largest protected landscape area in the Czech Republic covering 1,200 square kilometers. The Ore Mountains are currently the only mountain range in Czechia that does not have comprehensive protection.

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