• 10/24/2023

    The number of socially marginalised areas in Czechia increased last year compared to the year before, the Czech News Agency reports. According to the latest social exclusion index compiled by the Agency for Social Inclusion, the number has increased from 175 to 191. The director of the agency, Martin Šimáček, said that this was expected given the consequences of covid, high inflation and rising energy costs.

    The Agency for Social Inclusion has compiled this index annually since 2016. It is based on a number of factors, such as the proportion of people living in the area who are on benefits, not employed or studying, or whose house or apartment is in foreclosure.

    Author: Anna Fodor
  • 10/24/2023

    Getting a divorce in Czechia could become simpler and faster from January 2025, the Czech News Agency reports. Proposed changes to the Civil Code regarding divorce proceedings include courts no longer having to enquire into the reasons for the marriage breaking down, combined divorce and child custody proceedings, and lower court fees for amicable splits requiring less litigation. The changes were presented in parliament by Ministry of Justice representatives and MP Eva Decroix from the Civic Democrat party.

    Author: Anna Fodor
  • 10/23/2023

    Tuesday is expected to be overcast with a chance of rain in the late afternoon and evening. Daytime temperatures should range between 10 and 16 degrees Celsius.

    Author: Anna Fodor
  • 10/23/2023

    Danuše Nerudová has resigned from her position as the head of the Department of Accounting and Taxation at Mendel University in Brno, Deník N reports. Ms Nerudová herself confirmed the news to the Czech daily, citing disagreements over the direction in which the faculty is heading and wanting to focus on next year’s European Parliament elections, in which she standing for election, as reasons for the move. However, she will continue to work at the university as a professor.

    Author: Anna Fodor
  • 10/23/2023

    The new owner of a listed 18th-century baroque chateau in Chlum u Třeboně is causing concern and anger in the small town by carrying out demolition work in the building without a permit and refusing to communicate with the relevant authorities, news site Deník N reports.

    Daniel Bakaev, an entrepreneur with Russian-Kazakh roots, bought the chateau last year. However, hopes that the historic building and with it the town would get a new lease of life soon faded away after he fenced off the entire area, prohibiting locals from walking through the grounds, as they had been used to doing for decades.

    He also began renovating the building without a building permit. The authorities ordered him to stop the building works and let them into the castle, but according to Deník N, he refuses to let anyone in or to communicate with the local authorities, including the town hall, saying that the castle is his and claiming what he does there isn't anyone else's business.

    The chateau, located in South Bohemia near the Austrian border, is notable for being the former summer residence of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The archduke stayed there the night before his fateful departure to Sarajevo in 1914, where he was assassinated, triggering the First World War.

    Author: Anna Fodor
  • 10/23/2023

    A ban on the sale of flavoured heated tobacco products came into force in Czechia on Monday, bringing it in line with an EU directive issued last year. EU member states were required to implement the prohibition into national law by July 23, 2023, and apply it with effect from October 23, 2023. The directive does not allow for a transition period to sell off remaining stocks after this date.

    The ban is part of Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan to “create a Tobacco-Free Generation” where less than 5% of the EU population uses tobacco products by 2040, compared to around 25% today. One of the main reasons for the ban is the growing popularity of these tobacco products, especially among young people. According to lung doctors, the nicotine-containing aerosol produced by heated tobacco products has a very similar composition of demonstrably carcinogenic substances to cigarette smoke.

    Author: Anna Fodor
  • 10/23/2023

    Three liberal Czech political parties, the Pirates, the Greens and Senator 21, have agreed to join forces for the 2024 Senate elections. They will run on a joint ticket in 10 out of the 27 constituencies where new senators will be elected next year.

    In a press release published on Senator 21's X (formerly Twitter) profile, the head of the party, Václav Láska, said that at the moment, Czechia had a predominantly conservative government, lower house and Senate, and that liberal parties had to work together more to make sure their voice is heard in Czech politics.

    Author: Anna Fodor
  • 10/23/2023

    The company Energoaqua is responsible for the poisoning of the Bečva River that occurred on September 20, 2020, the Vsetín District Court ruled on Monday. However, the judge ruled that it was a misdemeanour rather than a criminal offence, meaning that no punishment was imposed. The court acquitted the director of the company, Oldřich Havelka, of the charges of poisoning the river and referred the matter back to the Czech Environmental Inspectorate.

    The director of Energoaqua, Oldřich Havelka, again denied responsibility for the accident, telling reporters after the verdict that there was no evidence that the company had caused the disaster.

    Environment Minister Petr Hladík told the Czech News Agency that he is sorry that the court was unable to find the culprit and impose the appropriate punishment, but he respects the decision of the court.

    According to the public prosecutor, Energoaqua caused the poisoning of the Bečva River with cyanide and hexavalent chromium that got into the river through the company's wastewater, resulting in the death of over 39 tons of fish.

    Author: Anna Fodor
  • 10/23/2023

    The two-day international Crimean Platform summit, which seeks to restore the territorial integrity of Ukraine and to end the Russian occupation of the Crimean peninsula, begins on Monday with a dinner at Prague Castle that will be attended by Czech President Petr Pavel. Legislators from four dozen countries have confirmed their attendance, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, also the founder of the platform, due to speak via a live video call on Tuesday.

    The Crimean Platform summit was initiated by President Zelensky in the summer of 2021. The first edition took place last year in Zagreb, Croatia.

    Author: Anna Fodor
  • 10/22/2023

    Monday is expected to be mostly cloudy but dry, with daytime temperatures of between 9 and 17 degrees Celsius. There should be a few hours of clear skies and sunshine in the late morning and early afternoon.

    Author: Anna Fodor

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