News

Prague Zoo has reopened its walk-through aviaries after more than two months of closure due to the spread of bird flu. Emergency measures were imposed in February by the State Veterinary Administration following the deaths of several bird species. As of Wednesday, April 22, the zoo has returned to normal operations, giving visitors access to all its bird aviaries.

France and the United Kingdom have expressed interest in a Czech proposal to deploy a passive radar system to help secure the Strait of Hormuz, Czech Foreign Minister Petr Macinka said after talks in Luxembourg.

Prime Minister Andrej Babiš announced last week that the Czech Republic would offer the DPET (Deployable Passive ESM Tracker) system, designed to detect and track air, ground, and maritime targets, including drones. Deployment would depend on stabilization of the regional security situation, he said.

The system consists of a central station, three side stations, a processing unit, and an operator workstation. It has a range of up to 400 kilometers and can monitor as many as 500 targets in real time.

Prime Minister Andrej Babiš (ANO) will meet this afternoon with the Director General of Czech Television, Hynek Chudárek, to discuss the government’s proposed changes to the financing of public service media. Czech Television is expected to lose around one billion crowns next year.

Trade unions of Czech Television and Czech Radio, along with the initiative Veřejnoprávně, will also comment this morning on the current developments related to the proposed funding changes.

At the same time, a protest march by secondary school and university students in support of public service media will take place in Prague, heading to the Ministry of Culture. Schools in other cities are also expected to join, including Brno, Olomouc, Ostrava, and Opava.

A Senate delegation led by the upper chamber’s chairman, Miloš Vystrčil (ODS), will travel to Taiwan on a commercial flight from Prague to Taipei, a route that was launched three years ago with Vystrčil’s support. He told journalists today that the government coalition of ANO, SPD, and Motorists had refused to provide a government aircraft, as had previously been customary. He described the decision as a betrayal and a stab in the back for business representatives and members of the science, research, and cultural sectors who were supposed to join the mission, and whose participation is now uncertain. Vystrčil plans to make the trip to Taiwan at the turn of May and June.