• Weather forecast
    11/18/2023

    It should be mainly overcast, with some rain, in Czechia on Sunday, with an average high temperature of 9 degrees Celsius. More cloudy skies are expected on the following days.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Vienna cathedral memorial service for Karel Schwarzenberg
    11/18/2023

    A memorial service for two-time Czech foreign minister Karel Schwarzenberg will be held at St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna on 16 December, the APA news agency reported on Saturday. Schwarzenberg died last weekend at the age of 85.

    The funeral mass will be conducted by Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, who is archbishop of Vienna. Senior politicians and diplomats are also expected to attend the commemoration.

    Mr. Schwarzenberg’s official funeral will take place with state honours on at St. Vitus Cathedral at Prague Castle on December 9.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Around 90,000 visit Prague’s Národní to celebrate revolution anniversary
    11/18/2023

    Celebrations on Národní in Prague on Friday attracted around 90,000 people, the organisers of the Národní Promenade event told the Czech News Agency. People have been gathering at the city centre street on 17 November every year since events there sparked the Velvet Revolution in 1989; some lay candles at a plaque marking the date.

    At least 76,000 people also attended a free show entitled Concert for the Future on the nearby Wenceslas Square, according to preliminary data from mobile operators.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Klaus: Velvet Revolution symbols stolen by those who trample on ideas of 1989
    11/18/2023

    Former Czech president Václav Klaus says that the symbols of November 17, 1989, which sparked the fall of communism in Czechoslovakia, have been stolen and occupied by people who “trample on” the ideas of that time. He made the comment on CNN Prima News on Friday evening. Mr. Klaus said he had not visited a memorial to the Velvet Revolution so as to avoid clashing with current politicians.

    Speaking on the same programme, ex-president Miloš Zeman said he disagreed with opposition leader Andrej Babiš of ANO, who says Czechia is experiencing a “new totalitarianism”. Today is far from totalitarianism, he said.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • 2023 edition of multi-genre Prague Sounds ends
    11/18/2023

    The multi-genre festival Prague Sounds comes to an end on Saturday evening with a special piano concert at the city’s Rudolfinum by Czechia's Bert & Friends.

    Other artists who have appeared in the festival, at a variety of venues in Prague, include Benjamin Clementine, Alva Noto, Owen Pallett, Nathan Fake, Kofi Stone, Angélique Kidjo and Ron Carter.

    The event, which was originally named Strings of Autumn, was held this year for the 27th time.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Awards for five who resisted Nazis, Communists, Russian occupiers
    11/18/2023

    Five people who resisted the Nazis, the Communists or Russian occupiers were honoured at the annual Memory of Nations Awards at Prague’s National Theatre on Friday night.

    The prizes went to Czech dissident Jan Litomiský, two Slovak women persecuted by the communist regime, Mária Šidová and Eva Karvašová, a Czech woman imprisoned by the Gestapo, Marie Klangová, and – in a first recognition of current events – Ukrainian Orthodox priest Vasyl Vyrozub.

    The award is presented annually by Post Bellum association, which records testimonies of witnesses to major events of the 20th century.

    President Petr Pavel attended Friday’s ceremony, the first head of state to do so since the prizes were first presented in 2010.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Czechs one point from Euros after away draw with Poland
    11/18/2023

    The Czech national soccer team drew 1:1 away with Poland on Friday evening in a qualifying game for next year’s European Championships. The hosts opened the scoring through Jakub Piotrowski before half time, before Czech captain Tomáš Souček equalised soon after the break.

    The result leaves the Czechs needing one point from their final Euro 2024 qualifier against Moldova, which takes place in Olomouc on Monday.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Weather forecast
    11/17/2023

    Saturday will be mostly overcast with occasional showers and day temperatures ranging between 2 and 6 degrees Celsius.
    Author: Ruth Fraňková

  • Gift for Putin initiative collects for helicopter
    11/17/2023

    The civic organisation Gift for Putin has launched a new collection for Ukraine on the occasion of the 34th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution. The money will be used for the purchase of a Black Hawk helicopter for Ukraine.

    The collection was launched on November 16 and within just a day people have donated more than three million crowns.  The used Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter, which costs CZK 105 million, landed this afternoon at Prague's Letná Plain, where dozens of people came to see it.
    Author: Ruth Fraňková

  • Student protests of 1939 commemorated at Prague’s Albertov
    11/17/2023

    Dozens of people, including students and representatives of universities, commemorated the student protests of November 1939 and 1989 at Prague's Albertov.

    It was here that a peaceful march began 34 years ago on November 17, 1989, which was to mark the 50th anniversary of the death of Jan Opletal, the Czech student killed by the Nazis in 1939.

    The march, which was brutally suppressed by police when it reached the Národní Street in the city centre, marked the beginning of the Velvet Revolution.

    The commemorative event saw speeches by members of the academic community, including Charles University Rector Milena Králíčková, who all highlighted the fact that freedom and democracy are not a given.
    Author: Ruth Fraňková

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