• 01/23/2024

    National anti-drug coordinator Jindřich Vobořil warned in a press release on Tuesday of new sweets and confectionary products which contain psychoactive substances being marketed to children. Mr. Vobořil said that offering and marketing these products to minors was highly unethical and urged manufacturers and sellers of products containing HHC to review their practices and withdraw these products from the market. He warned that if they did not comply, the state would have to react much more forcefully.

    Products containing the new semi-synthetic cannabinoid substance HHC, which has effects comparable to THC, the main psychoactive ingredient in cannabis, are currently being offered for sale without any quality standards or regulation on who they can be sold to, as the new Psychomodulating Substances Act, which plans to regulate such matters, has not yet been passed. It is currently in its second reading in the lower house.

    Author: Anna Fodor
  • 01/23/2024

    The 26th annual dog sled race called Šediváčkův Long gets underway in the town of Deštné in the northeast of the country on Tuesday afternoon.

    Over 100 mushers from different countries with some 700 dogs are competing in the race which is considered one of the toughest on the European continent.

    The participants can choose between 200-kilometre and 300-kilometre long tracks in deep snow and freezing conditions in the Orlické hory mountains which they have to cover in just five days. Competitors also have to spend one night sleeping out in the snow.

    Author: Ruth Fraňková
  • 01/23/2024

    A debate on introducing postal voting for Czechs abroad resumed in the Chamber of Deputies on Tuesday. The debate was adjourned on Friday night after three days of filibustering by opposition parties.

    ANO and the Freedom and Direct Democracy Party are vehemently against the bill on the grounds that it can be abused and have said they will obstruct its passage through parliament for as long as possible.

    The ruling coalition, which wants the bill approved in time for the 2025 general elections, has enough votes to push it through. Czechia is one of the few states in the EU that do not allow postal voting.

    Author: Ruth Fraňková
  • 01/22/2024

    Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský attended a meeting of EU foreign ministers at the NATO headquarters in Brussels on Monday, chaired by the NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.

    The head of Czech diplomacy also met with Mr. Stoltenberg to discuss the planned informal meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Prague in May and preparations for the NATO summit in Washington in July, Mr. Lipavský wrote on X.

    The informal meeting, due to be held at the end of May, will be the biggest alliance event for Prague since the NATO summit in 2002. So far, the bloc has held two similar events, in 2022 in Berlin and in 2023 in Oslo.

    Author: Ruth Fraňková
  • 01/22/2024

    France has asked the Czech Fire and Rescue Service, which has been helping in the north of the country following devastating floods in early January, to extend their assistance due to expected rainfall in the area.

    A total of 18 professional Czech firefighters have been operating in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais area since January 4, using specialised equipment, including two large-capacity pumps.

    The exact date of the Czech team's return to Czechia will be decided this week, firefighters' spokesman Jiří Fröhlich told the Czech News Agency on Monday.

    Author: Ruth Fraňková
  • 01/22/2024

    Tuesday will be mostly cloudy with occasional rain or snow showers and day temperatures ranging between 3 and 7 degrees Celsius.

    Author: Ruth Fraňková
  • 01/22/2024

    Petr Kapoun, head of the space company TRL Space, has been included on the list of 40 young European leaders for 2024, put together by the Brussels-based think tank Friends of Europe.

    According to the press release, Mr. Kapoun is a Czech space enthusiast, who founded TRL Space with the aim of strengthening the country’s space industry. He also established the Brno space cluster and heads the space section of the Aerospace Industry Association.

    The non-profit organisation selects from candidates aged 30 to 40 from different European countries who have made a significant impact in their fields. Other personalities on the list include a winemaker, an Olympic swimmer and an award-winning Romani actress.

    Author: Ruth Fraňková
  • 01/22/2024

    The European Union's debt burden continued to decline in the third quarter of last year, falling to 82.6 percent of gross domestic product, the EU statistical office Eurostat said on Monday.In Czechia, the trend was the opposite and debt increased compared to the previous quarter, reaching 44.5 percent of the economy's output, according to Eurostat data. Government debt was at a record high in the Czechia.Year-on-year, the government debt-to-GDP ratio is lower in the EU and the Eurozone as well as in Czechia.

    Author: Ruth Fraňková
  • 01/22/2024

    Czech police officers detained 4,742 people during transit migration last year, Police President Martin Vondrášek said on Monday. It was more than 17,000 fewer than in the previous year, but also about 3,400 more than in 2021. Because of the increasing number of refugees, Czechia introduced checks on its border with Slovakia last October, which have continued until now. They were last extended by the government in early January and are due to last until at least 2 February.

    The random checks are intended to prevent transit migration through Czechia to other EU countries.

    Author: Ruth Fraňková
  • 01/22/2024

    The Czech police have arrested two Czechs and one foreigner who they believe were trafficking cocaine in several countries, a spokeswoman for the National Drug Control Centre said on Monday. She said the group smuggled several hundred kilos of cocaine in boxes of bananas from South America via Hamburg, Germany.

    According to earlier reports by the Seznam Zprávy news site, one of the detainees is an executive of the Lidl supermarket chain, while another is a former associate of escaped convicted businessman Radovan Krejčíř. The accused are in custody and face up to 18 years in prison if convicted.

    Author: Ruth Fraňková

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