• 12/30/2023

    According to Prague City Tourism an estimated  650,000 tourists arrived in the Czech capital during Advent. Another 90,000 visitors are expected to celebrate New Year’s Eve in Prague, mainly tourists from Germany, Italy, Spain, Great Britain, but also from the U.S. and Asia, according to Prague City Tourism spokeswoman Klára Janderová. The influx of tourists is also reflected in the occupancy rate of hotels and other accommodation facilities in the metropolis. According to the president of the Association of Hotels and Restaurants of the Czech Republic, Václav Stárek, hotel capacity should be filled by around 85 percent on New Year's Eve, with many hotels already fully booked.

  • 12/30/2023

    Due to the unseasonably warm spell conditions at Czech ski resorts have worsened. Some have had to temporarily put their lifts out of operation, but the big ski resorts remain open. The quality of the tracks is not ideal at the moment, with natural snow completely melted in many places, making conditions for cross country skiing particularly bad, according to resorts contacted by the Czech Press Agency. However the most popular resorts remain in operation. Špindleruv Mlýn and the Ski Resort Černá hora – Pec report good conditions for skiers thanks to artificial snow. People are advised to check the respective websites for precise information.

  • 12/30/2023

    Politicians are considering the possibility of including mandatory psychological tests for obtaining a firearms license in the new gun law being prepared. Although this condition was not in the original draft law now being debated in Parliament, the tragic shooting incident at the Prague Faculty of Arts has made many deputies reconsider their earlier liberal stand. Pavel Žáček, chairman of the Committee on Security, said he was now in favour of introducing such a condition.

  • 12/30/2023

    The Czech Rectors' Conference has slammed Jiří Kobza, an MP for the Freedom and Direct Democracy Party, who suggested in a post on social networks that the faculty itself was to blame for having helped mold the shooter by the “inclusive progressive education”  it provided, which he said "begged the question what kind of indoctrination programme of hate is actually being taught there".

    In a joint statement the rectors of Czech universities said they consider the post to be “absolutely shocking, crossing the boundaries of decency, morality and good taste."

    Interior Minister Vít Rakušan also denounced the MP’s action, saying the post was "outrageous" and called on people not to abuse the tragedy by attacking the very group of people who were the target of last week's violence.

  • 12/30/2023

    The Prague Faculty of Arts has announced that in order to help students cope with the tragic shooting that left 14 people dead and 25 injured on December 21, it has cancelled classes until the end of the winter semester, January 12. Credits and exams will be voluntary this semester and may take place online or at other locations. Department heads will be informing students about the options next week. Many of the faculty’s students have said they would find it difficult to work in or even enter the building so soon after the tragedy.

  • 12/30/2023

    The Prague Faculty of Arts is organizing a month of special events that are to help students and teachers come to terms with the tragic shooting that left 14 people dead and 25 injured on December 21. The various activities, many of which will take place on Jan Palach Square where the faculty is located, are being planned together with student organizations. The first event will be a candlelight procession in memory of the victims on January 4. The main faculty building on the square, which was the scene of the horrific act, will remain closed until the end of January. The sea of candles which people have been lighting both in front of the faculty and Charles University’s main headquarters Karolinum will be used to create a memorial for a later memorial site, organizers said.

  • 12/29/2023

    Saturday should be partly cloudy and dry with day temperatures between 5 and 9 degrees Celsius.

  • 12/29/2023

    Prague City Hall will not organize New Year's fireworks or a video mapping show this year, a spokesman for the municipality reported. Instead people will get admission for free (or a symbolic price) to Prague Zoo, the Botanical Gardens, Prague towers and a number of other institutions on January 1. Visitors will be asked to present a public transport card or ID to prove that they live in Prague. In view of the recent tragedy at the Faculty of Arts many Czech cities have scrapped their plans for fireworks displays or other boisterous celebrations. Fireworks will not be held in Prague, Brno and Olomouc, among others, on the other hand, Ostrava, Zlín and Plzeň will hold them as planned.

  • 12/29/2023

    Since taking office in March, President Petr Pavel received requests from 76 Czechs to be allowed to fight for Ukraine in its war against Russia. He granted special permission to do so to 20 people, Czech Radio reported citing information from the Office of the President. Pavel's predecessor, Miloš Zeman, received  477 requests and granted 132 permits. Czech Radio said it is not clear how many Czechs actually went to fight in Ukraine. Service in foreign armed forces is prohibited by law for Czechs.

  • 12/29/2023

    The General Inspectorate of the Security Forces (GIBS) is looking into the police intervention at the Prague Faculty of Arts and is analysing the crisis response of the police and special units, a spokesman for the force confirmed on Friday. According to him, this is normal procedure in serious cases and the results of the inspection should be available by mid-January. There has been some criticism of the crisis response on social media, where some people argue that the police may have underestimated the situation and lost valuable time.

Pages