News

Activists from the environmental organisation Greenpeace protested outside the Ministry of Agriculture on Wednesday morning against the felling of old-growth forests in Czechia. Some of the roughly two dozen protestors climbed ladders to hang a banner from the ministry building which read "The Ministry of Cutting Down Old Forests", as well as putting paper helmets on the heads and models of chainsaws in the hands of the statues above the entrance to the ministry building.

According to Greenpeace, old-growth forests are important for maintaining biodiversity and preventing climate change. The head of the campaign said that over 21,000 people had signed a petition in support of saving Czechia's old-growth forests.

A 36-year-old former volunteer guard has been formally charged with general endangerment and damage to another's property for starting the largest forest fire in Czechia's history in Bohemian Switzerland last year, Czech news site iDnes reported on Wednesday. The same man also set fire to a lookout tower and seating areas in nearby Děčín in April this year. The defendant, who is now in custody, has partially confessed to the crime, but his motives remain unclear. He could face up to 15 years in prison.

The fire, which took 6,000 firefighters 20 days to extinguish, broke out near the Czech-German border on the night of July 24 last year and spread to over 1000 hectares of forest.

Teachers unions in Czechia have decided to hold a day-long warning strike of primary, secondary and kindergarten schools, scheduled to take place on November 27. The trade unionists are seeking more money for the education sector for next year. Education Minister Mikuláš Bek told them that he was continuing to look for ways to strengthen the budget and offered them further negotiations.

Mr. Bek has previously said that teachers should get an average of CZK 2,500 raise in January. According to the law, the average teacher's salary should reach 130 percent of the country’s average gross wage. However, the calculation will be based on last year’s wages, so it is estimated to be at about 113.5 percent of the current average.

A new survey carried out by experts from the National Institute of Mental Health will comprehensively map the sexual behaviour of the Czech population.

The survey, called Czech Sex, will involve some 6,000 respondents, and will focus, among other things, on sexual health, pleasure and wellbeing.

The research, which will include online questionnaires and face-to-face interviews, will start in the next few days and will last until March 2024. A similar survey was last carried out in Czechia ten years ago.