News

The Czech crown jewels will be on display in Prague Castle’s Vladislav Hall from September 18 to 28, the Presidential Office announced on Thursday. The exhibition, titled Habsburgs 500, will be open to the public free of charge.

The jewels will be ceremonially removed from the Crown Chamber in St. Vitus Cathedral on September 14 by the seven key holders. School groups will have priority access during the following three days before the exhibition opens to the public.

President Petr Pavel introduced the tradition of annual displays in 2024. Last year's exhibition attracted more than 51,500 visitors. This year's display will trace the jewels' journey from Karlštejn Castle to Vienna during the Thirty Years' War and their return to Prague in 1791.

Czechia takes on South Africa on Thursday in a crucial Group A match at the FIFA World Cup, with both teams looking for their first points of the tournament. After opening with a 2–1 defeat to South Korea, coach Miroslav Koubek's side needs a victory to boost its hopes of reaching the knockout stage. Koubek has indicated he will make changes to the starting line-up for the match in Atlanta. The game, kicking off at 6 p.m. CEST, will be officiated by an all-female refereeing team led by American referee Tori Penso.

President Petr Pavel says he understands the concerns behind next week's planned one-day strike by employees of Czech Television and Czech Radio, calling the protest a legitimate expression of uncertainty over the government's proposed funding overhaul. Speaking during a visit to the Vysočina region, Pavel said replacing licence fees with state budget funding is not necessarily wrong in principle, but only if the independence of public service media is clearly protected. He criticised the government for proposing the funding change before defining safeguards for editorial independence and the role of public service broadcasting.

Hundreds of employees at Czech Television and Czech Radio will stage a one-day warning strike on June 22 to protest the government's plan to replace licence fees with state budget funding. Organisers said the strike would affect most television and radio channels but would not disrupt news coverage or other core public service obligations. The government-approved proposal would reduce the broadcasters' combined funding by about CZK 1.4 billion, or roughly 15 percent. Czech Television and Czech Radio have warned the cuts could lead to reduced programme production and hundreds of job losses.