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The 79th Prague Spring International Music Festival, due to take place between May 12 and June 3, will offer 50 concerts, the organizers revealed on Monday. The festival will open at Prague’s Municipal House with Bedřich Smetana’s My Country performed by the Berlin Philharmonic headed by conductor Kirill Petrenko.

The upcoming edition will also celebrate the Year of Czech Music, and the bicentenary of Smetana's birth. Czech conductor Jakub Hrůša, who will be the ambassador of the Czech Year of Music, will lead a concert performance of Smetana's opera Libuše.

Tickets for the Prague Spring will go on sale on 1 November 2023 on the festival’s website.

The Ostrava Zoo has started breeding a critically endangered species of lemur. The broad-nosed lemur is native to the island of Madagascar and its wild population is estimated at 1,500 individuals.

The animal, which is listed as a critically endangered species on the IUCN Red List, is also rarely bred in captivity. There are only 32 animals kept in eight institutions across Europe.

The Ostrava Zoo, which currently breeds 10 different species of lemurs, is not only involved in international conservation programmes, but also takes part in biodiversity conservation directly in Madagascar.

The National Gallery in Prague will commemorate 100 years since the purchase of a major collection of French art with an international conference due to take place on November 2 and 3 at the convent of Saint Agnes.

The collection, acquired by the Czechoslovak government in 1923 for five million crowns, includes several dozen works by artists such as Georges Braque, Paul Cézanne, Vincent van Gogh, Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso.

Today the entire collection comprises over 260 works of art. It is one of the most important art collections in Czechia and one of the best collections of French art outside France.

President Pavel has rejected the idea that Czechia should leave the UN over Friday’s resolution calling for a humanitarian ceasefire in the Middle East.

The statement came in reaction to a weekend post on social networks by Czech Defense Minister Jana Černochová who stated that, in her opinion, Czechia has no business in an organisation that sides with terrorists and does not respect the basic right to self-defence.

President Pavel said that the Czech Republic wants to remain an active international player and seek solutions to the challenges of the present day, such as protection of human rights, sustainable development, climate change and others. Moreover, he said Czechia has long supported the reform of the United Nations, including that of the Security Council, and wants to be part of this endeavor, which can only be done from within the organization.

Prime Minister Petr Fiala said on Sunday that while he understands the defense minister's indignation over the UN’s failure to condemn Hamas’ terrorist attack against Israel, there can be no question of Czechia walking out of the organization in protest. He said the Czech Republic will stand by its convictions and try to win over others by the strength of its arguments.

Czechia was one of 14 countries who on Friday voted against the UN resolution calling for an immediate "durable and sustained humanitarian truce" in Gaza. Justifying the decision, the Czech ambassador to the UN, Jakub Kulhánek, said the text does not recognise Israel's right to defend itself and its citizens against terrorism, lacks a demand for the release of hostages and does not include a clear condemnation of Hamas' attack against Israel.