• 08/18/2024

    Firefighters were out in force on Sunday as heavy storms hit the south-western parts of the country, flooding roads and gardens. The Strakonice and Prachatice regions were particularly badly hit, with flash floods reported in the town of Stachy and its surroundings.

    Clean-up work is also underway in the eastern parts of the country  following heavy storms in the Vysočina and Pardubice regions. Firefighters and emergency crews were called to dozens of emergencies, pumping water from cellars, clearing fallen trees from roads and rail tracks and in one case a mudslide from afield onto a local road. Some areas had torrential rain, with over fifty millimeters of rain falling in the space of half an hour. Several roofs are reported to have been damaged.

  • 08/18/2024

    Experts from the Institute of Global Change Research of the Academy of Sciences are mapping the city of Brno and its surroundings from an altitude of one and a half kilometres. Hyperspectral sensors allow them to detect the temperature and material of surfaces, enabling them to produce a complex temperature map of Brno. The city has requested these data once in five years so that it can better cope with climate change. The map serves the Brno City Architect's Office in making decisions in city planning, for instance by providing them with precise data on the temperature of various paving materials.

  • 08/18/2024

    The Ministry of Health is preparing a decree to ban sweet-flavoured electronic cigarettes in order to curtail the growing popularity of e-cigarettes especially among the young. Although by law they cannot be sold to people under 18, many salespeople do not respect this condition and flavoured electronic cigarettes are becoming increasingly popular among teenagers. According to the ministry’s decree only one flavor, tobacco, would remain. Robert Hrdlička, head of the Chamber of Electronic Vaping, has protested against the move, saying that as drafted, the decree would mean the end of vaping in Czechia.

  • 08/18/2024

    The third edition of the NeverMore 68 festival at the Prague Exhibition Grounds will mark the 56th anniversary of the Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia on August 21, 1968. This year, the theme of the event will be women in dissent. The festival will offer visitors concerts, documentary screenings and debates. The anniversary of the invasion will also be commemorated by the unveiling of a bronze monument by sculptor Jiří Sozanský on the embankment by the Kampa Museum, with guitarist Michal Pavlíček accompanying the event.

  • 08/17/2024

    Sunday is expected to be partly cloudy to overcast with daytime highs between 26 and 31 degrees Celsius and rain and heat storms in many parts of the country.

  • 08/17/2024

    The number of attacks by wolves on farm animals in Czechia has been growing, according to the Agency for the Protection of Nature and Landscape. Farmers have already reported 177 wolf attacks on livestock in the first half of this year, resulting in the loss of 386 animals, mainly sheep and cows. In the first half of 2023, breeders reported 79 such attacks. Along with the number of reported cases, the volume of compensation paid to breeders has also increased. This year the state has already paid out almost eight million crowns in compensation for such attacks.

  • 08/17/2024

    The Prague Metro Authority is alerting the public to the fact that if a person falls onto the tracks in the metro there is an emergency button which will immediately stop an oncoming train. The metro authority says that people often don't know about it, which leads to tragic situations. Last week a metro train killed a blind man who fell onto the tracks at Křižíkova station. People lost time calling a police helpline, although the emergency button was close by. A similar case happened this Thursday when a drunk man fell onto the tracks at Jiřího z Poděbrad station, but luckily he picked himself up and other passengers helped him back onto the platform.

    The emergency buttons are located on the platforms for each track separately. They are usually at the beginning and end of the platform, on the walls or on a pillar. There is a protective glass on them, which breaks when pushed.

  • 08/17/2024

    Botanists are working on a unique photographic atlas of Czech plants which has been financed from public donations and academia. They raised one million crowns in a public collection and another 2.5 million crowns was donated by Czech universities. The publication will contain photographs of all the botanical species found on Czech territory, which is about 3,200 plants. It will be the first photo atlas of this kind in the Czech Republic.

  • 08/17/2024

    Thousands of people are expected to attend the annual Aviation Day in Cheb, a spectacular show of historic and modern aircraft due to take place at the Cheb Airfield this weekend. Among this year’s attractions are the world's smallest aircraft, the only airworthy twin-engine German Messerschmitt Schwalbe jet fighter and the Catalina amphibious aircraft. The event is now in its ninth year and promises solo and group aerobatics performed by pilots from at home and abroad. There is  an accompanying program offering exhibitions of military equipment, period camps, as well as attractions for children. Visitors will also have the opportunity to enjoy sightseeing flights in various types of aircraft and helicopters.

  • 08/17/2024

    Prague City Hall, Prague City Transport and the NGO Konsent have launched a campaign against sexual harassment on public transport. Posters at 150 bus stops and metro stations refer to inappropriate behaviour and advise people how to behave in such situations. According to the Department for Gender Equality of the Office of the Czech Government, one in three Czech women and one in ten men have experienced harassment on public transport.

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