Culture (Page 2)

The Constitutional Court of the Czech Republic itself had to step in after the Ministry of Interior of the Czech Republic identified a strange example of law making in one of Czechia’s many local governments. Even though the Czech Republic has a Senate and a Parliament which makes the majority of its laws, the local governments of cities and even villages have some legislative power too. This is allowed, so that local people can make minute changes to their local laws, so that they fit their community the best. For example, in 2013, in Bzenec, local authorities officially issued a ban on walking your lion. This ban became a local law after one of the families from there bought aContinue Reading

In the early morning of August 12th, a driver refused to stop for a standard police check. It was 4am, when the police began to pursue a van that was on the D1 highway on its way to Prague. The incident turned into a huge chase in which several police patrols were involved including an emergency motorized unit. Minutes later, the van crashed into a tree in Holešovice. The driver fled from the vehicle thereafter, followed by immigrants. According to the intervening police unit, around 30 migrants, who likely decided to take an illegal route for their move into Europe, were hiding in the luggage space of the vehicle. 23 of the Syrian newcomers were almost instantly captured by theContinue Reading

While Czech cafeterias manage to feed much of the country’s children and government workers on every workday, they are in dire need of a reform. However, this reform is a bit of a political taboo, as coming up with an effective one takes balancing the scales of ingredient, equipment and personnel costs with the quality of food that we give to our children and essential workers. Now, a union of four animal rights organization proposed a potential upgrade to school and office lunches – more vegetarian lunches. The four organizations, Compassion in World Farming, Nesehnutí, Obránci zvířat and Svoboda zvířat, presented twelve ideas, that they suggest politicians should include in their election plans to attract voters who are against animalContinue Reading

In the fall of last year, an ecological tragedy struck the river Bečva, as local citizens started finding hundreds of dead fish in the river. This caused a lot of chaos in nearby villages, as people were forbidden to swim in the river or let their dogs near it. The mass death of these creatures was initially explained as a result of a cyanide leak into the water from an unknow source. However, cyanide is not so common, so many were asking questions about how does such a dangerous substance gets into the hands of someone irresponsible enough to pour it into a river full of life. At least full of life back then. Now, the Czech Parliament Commission ofContinue Reading

In Prague on Thursday, a delivery boy’s ordinary workday was interrupted by a man with a machete charging at him. Luckily, the delivery boy decided to run while the man chased him through the garden, and also call the police in the process. When the police arrived and diffused the situation, a bizarre story started to reveal itself. It was so bizarre that the police decided to release the bodycam footage from one of the officers to the public. After the machete-chase ended, the delivery boy naturally had no clue why he was attacked. The man with the machete, visibly struggling to get the words out of his mouth, explained that he is sure that the delivery boy is hisContinue Reading

In Přerov, low flying Army planes have surprised citizens getting ready to do their early morning commute. The spectacle presented itself in the Přerov skies for more than three hours, and some citizens even reported that they were able to see the planes in detail from the roofs of their apartment buildings. Not only were the planes seen flying unusually low, but some also spotted soldiers jumping from the plane and parachuting down to the ground. The spokesman of the Czech Army, Jakub Šimíček, confirmed these observations and explained the situation. “Starting from Tuesday morning, the certification of Czech parachutes for the C-130 Hercules aircraft has been taking place over the Přerov Military Airport”. Consequently both military paratroopers and equipmentContinue Reading

The annual Prague Pride festival, highlighting LGBTQ+ rights and celebrating the community, has started this week. In support of this event, the Prague city hall, as well as some other administrative buildings, is now decorated with a rainbow coloured Pride flags. While flags are a nice touch, the LGBTQ+ community is currently more interested in a legislative change, that would allow all people, regardless of their sex and gender, to enter a marriage. Currently all couples in the country can enter a registered partnership, but only the traditionally Christian couple of one heterosexual male and one heterosexual female can officially undergo the process of marriage and call each other husband and wife. Furthermore, the marriage status has way more legalContinue Reading

“Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians & Other Regions of Europe”. This is the latest addition to the UNESCO natural world heritage locations list. One of the locations covered with this umbrella-term inscription lies in the Czech Republic. It is the “Jizerskohorské bučiny”, a beech forest located in northern Czechia. While Czech Republic is certainly not new to UNESCO’s list, the addition of this forest to the natural world heritage list marks the first mention of the Czech Republic in UNESCO’s natural section. The Czech Minister of the Environment Richard Brabec has proclaimed that this news makes the Czech Republic “A part of the heritage of all of mankind”. Furthermore, he shared that he believes that the additionContinue Reading

The fire department in Hradec Králové is mourning the sudden loss of a longtime colleague Jirka Vaniš. He was a professional firefighter for 21 years, so his passing will leave a hole in the department, that will be hard to fill. He was experienced, and willing to help anyone regardless of whether he was on duty or not. His big heart impacted his colleagues so much that they decided to organize a fundraising campaign for Jirka Vaniš’s family. Firemen often risk their lives for the lives or even just property of others. During the recent bad weather, hundreds of Czechs were fully dependent on local fire brigades, whether they needed saving from a tornado, a flood or a fallen tree.Continue Reading