• 12/27/2023

    Students and staff at the Faculty of Arts at Prague’s Charles University were allowed to return to collect personal items on Wednesday, Czech Television reported. Fourteen people were killed at the faculty last Thursday after a lone gunman went on the rampage in Czechia’s worst ever mass shooting.

    People were allowed to pick up their belongings at one entrance to the facility, on producing ID and signing for the items.

    The entrance to the main faculty building is completely covered in candles, with the spot on Jan Palach Square having become an informal memorial since the killings.

    Author: Ian Willoughby
  • 12/27/2023

    Czech fire brigades dealt with a record number of 3,700 incidents over this year’s Christmas period, a spokesperson for the national fire service said on Wednesday. Initially fire officers were called out over problems caused by snow and strong winds, before a quick thaw meant that they had to respond to rising river levels.

    Most years fire brigades are deployed less than 1,000 times between December 24, when Czechs celebrate Christmas, and December 26.

    Author: Ian Willoughby
  • 12/27/2023

    It should be mainly overcast in Czechia on Thursday, with an average high temperature of 8 degrees Celsius. Similar weather is expected on the following days.

  • 12/27/2023

    Some 72 percent of Czechs do not expect a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia in the next year, suggests a new poll by the Median agency for Czech Radio’s Radiožurnál station published on Wednesday.

    A slight majority of respondents in December’s survey, 51 percent, said they favoured countries such as the US continuing to support Ukraine at the same level in 2024.

    Almost two-thirds of Czechs do not fear that the Israel-Hamas conflict will spread beyond the region, the poll indicates.

    Author: Ian Willoughby
  • 12/27/2023

    The police are currently investigating over 60 reported crimes or misdemeanours by various people in connection with Thursday's shooting at Charles University's Faculty of Arts in Prague, officials said on Wednesday. These include, for example, publicly condoning or commending the crime, threatening to perpetrate a similar act, and spreading alarmist news.

    Meanwhile, people continued to come to the memorial sites in front of the Faculty of Arts building on Jan Palach Square and to Charles University's main building, the Karolinum, throughout the Christmas holidays and on Wednesday to light candles and lay flowers.

    Author: Anna Fodor
  • 12/27/2023

    Water levels are gradually stabilising and receding in Czechia, with the number of places reporting floods dropping to less than a hundred. At least one of the three flood levels was reported at 92 measuring stations on Wednesday morning, with the highest level reported in nine places. However, meteorologists expect a slight rise in the water level in the middle and lower reaches of the Elbe River. The flood warning due to rain and melting snow remains in force for most of the country until further notice.

    Author: Anna Fodor
  • 12/26/2023

    In his Christmas address to the nation, Prime Minister Petr Fiala said the country had seen two hard years, but 2024 would bring a turn for the better. He said that thanks to a policy of fiscal discipline and the government’s austerity package the country’s debt had been brought under control and would fall below 3 percent of the GDP next year.

    Mr. Fiala said that inflation had already dropped substantially and next year it would return to pre-Covid levels. The price hikes will end and real wages will start to rise again, the prime minister promised, saying the government’s measures were beginning to bear fruit and Czechs would feel the effects on their family budgets and savings.

    He said 2024 would be a year of record investments into road infrastructure, security and defence and the energy sector which would undergo extensive modernisation so that it can provide sufficient nuclear and renewable energy for the future.

  • 12/25/2023

    Water levels in Czech rivers and streams continued to rise on Monday due to heavy rain and melting snow. At least one of the three flood levels was reported at over 160 measuring stations, with the highest level reported in 15 places. The flood warning issued by the Czech Hydrometeorological Institute is still in force for almost the entire country until further notice, with the exception of the southern part of the South Bohemian Region.

    Author: Anna Fodor
  • 12/25/2023

    Even over Christmas, people continued to lay flowers and light candles at the impromptu memorial sites that have sprung up in Prague for the victims of Thursday's tragic shooting. Thousands of candles have been placed outside Charles University's main building as well as in front of the Faculty of Arts building to honour their memory.

    Police officers armed with submachine guns also continued to patrol the streets over Christmas as security has been stepped up in the wake of the incident.

    Author: Anna Fodor
  • 12/24/2023

    In agreement with the police, Charles University is not going to make the names of the victims of Thursday's shooting incident public, out of respect for their families and to protect the victims' personal data, the school has announced.

    It also stated that the Faculty of Arts building will remain closed until further notice and that the Charles University leadership wants to actively participate in discussions about the university's future security strategy. The school said it will continue to provide organisational, material and psychological support and try to ensure a peaceful return to academia for all those affected.

    Students and teachers who left their personal belongings in the Faculty of Arts as they were evacuated from the building after the shooting will next be able to collect them at the nearby Faculty of Law on Wednesday, December 27, between 8:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m. In case of questions, people should contact Charles University's Central Crisis Staff line on 224 491 530.

    Author: Anna Fodor

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