News

Czech swimmer Barbora Seemanová failed short of reaching the final in the women’s 100m butterfly in Paris on Friday but improved her personal record to 57,50. Seemanová will be fighting for Monday's final of the 200m breaststroke, in which she is a two-time European champion, on Sunday.

Strengthening the country’s security following the mass shooting at Prague’s Charles University in December will cost CZK 3.6 billion, the website Ekonomicky denik reported on Sunday, citing government material.

About two dozen measures directly related to the incident at the Faculty of Arts, in which a shooter killed 14 people, should be implemented during the next three years. They include the purchase of weapons and equipment for police officers or gunfire protection for firefighters, virtual reality training and emergency notification apps.

The government plans to adopt another five dozen measures worth billions of crowns by 2031.

Czech singer-songwriter Oldřich Janota, a key figure of the country’s alternative folk scene, has died at the age of 74. The news was announced by his family on social media on Saturday. The Plzeň-born artist was known for incorporating minimalist and experimental techniques into folk music, as well as working with pre-recorded tapes.

Janota wrote his first songs in the late 1960s. He performed with the folk-rock band Pentagram, before establishing his own group called Mozart K in 1979. In 2009, a 17-track album Ztracený ve světě: A Tribute to Oldřich Janota was released to mark his 60th birthday.

One of Istanbul's most sought-after landmarks, the underground Basilica Cistern, will feature an exhibition of mostly crystal artworks by Czech sculptors Vlastimil Beránek and Jaroslav Prošek.

The showcase, which gets underway on July 31, is co-organized by Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality and Consulate General of the Czech Republic in Istanbul, and will run until November 30.

The ancient cistern was built in the 6th century during the reign of Byzantine emperor Justinian I. It has a capacity of 80 thousand tons of water and covers an area of approximately 10,000 square metres. Today it is kept with little water, for public access inside the space.