News

Czech soldier severely injured in attack on army base

A 32-year-old Czech soldier was severely injured in Afghanistan on Wednesday morning. He was shot during an attack on the Czech army base in the Vardak province. According to a spokeswoman of the army, the soldier immediately received first aid and was quickly transported to the nearest hospital. The man will be flown to the Czech Republic once he was been treated by a team of Czech surgeons in Kabul. The army base at Vardak has 54 members. To date, four Czech soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan, the most recent case happened in late May.

Czechs mark Jan Hus anniversary

On Wednesday, Czechs are marking the 596th anniversary of the death of Jan Hus, a 15th century priest, reformer and religious thinker who was burned at the stake in Constance as a heretic. July 6 is a national holiday in the Czech Republic, with religious services held around the country commemorating Jan Hus’s legacy. In the Central Bohemian village of Krakovec, a statue commemorating Jan Hus was unveiled.

Jan Hus (John Huss) was a Catholic priest and rector of the University of Prague who was strongly influenced by the teachings of the English reformer John Wycliffe. He was excommunicated by the Catholic Church in 1411 before being condemned as a heretic and executed in Constance four years later.

National Museum to close due to four-year renovation

The National Museum will be closing its doors on July 7 due to a renovation, which will double the exhibition space and connect the building at the top of Wenceslas Square to the former seat of the Federal Parliament across the street via a subterranean tunnel. The renovation is expected to last four years and cost around 4.5 billion Czech crowns. This is the first time that the museum, which was founded by Kaspar Maria von Sternberg in 1818, will be completely renovated.

Female Czech pensioners received about fifth less money than male counterparts

Czech women’s pensions are significantly lower than those of their male counterparts, statistics from the Czech Social Security Administration reveal. While male pensioners receive an average of about 11,700 Czech crowns per month, females who are retired have to make do with around 9,500 crowns per month. Their monthly pension is about a fifth lower than that of men. In addition to the number of years that someone has been employed, other factors also influence the total sum of one’s pension. On average, working Czech women’s salaries are about 25 percent below those of men’s.

Fourteen-day-old baby girl left in baby-box in Frýdek-Místek

A baby girl was left in a baby-box at a hospital in the city of Frýdek-Místek in the country’s Moravian-Silesian region. The infant, who is only about fourteen days old, is in good health. A doctor who works for the hospital said that she will most likely be given the name Jana, since she was left in the baby-box on the national holiday. The baby is the 52nd child to be placed in one of the country’s baby boxes, which have recently been criticized by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, which claims that they violate several provisions of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Nearly 30,000 visitors at this year’s Rock for People festival

Some 28,5000 visitors attended the Rock for People festival this year. Among the headliners at this year’s festival, which ran from July 2 to July 5 were Jimmy Eat World, The Streets and My Chemical Romance. This year, some 140 bands, 20 DJs and some two dozens of theatre groups performed a the festival. According to organizer Petr Fořt, the festival was taken to a new level this year and will become one of the important music festivals of Europe in the years to come.

Two die in collision between car and train

A 45-year old driver and a 61-year old woman who was in the car were killed on Wednesday morning, when the car collided with a train at a railroad crossing near the Moravian city of Opava. Another woman who was driving in the car was seriously injured. She is being treated in an Ostrava hospital. A police spokesperson said that the warning signals at the railroad crossing were fully functional. Several cars were waiting for the train to cross. The driver bypassed them and his car was hit by the train.

Weather

Over the next few days, a heatwave is supposed to hit the Czech Republic, with temperatures up to 30 degrees Celsius on Thursday. Wednesday’s weather should be warm and sunny, with temperatures in the mid-twenties and a chance of isolated thunderstorms.