News: Thursday, May 23rd, 2024

iROZHLAS: inaction on sex offenders register likely to result in postponed launch

The sex offenders register that politicians have been promising since 2022 may have to be postponed for the second time, iROZHLAS.cz reports.

The government began discussing the possibility of creating such a register in response to a case where a previously convicted sex offender from Liberec abused seven children at events that he was allowed to organise, despite the fact that he was twice convicted of raping minors in the past.

The Justice Ministry said last October that it had agreed on the details of the register and was already working on a concrete proposal. Originally, the register was supposed to launch at the beginning of this year, but this was later postponed to January 1, 2025.

Now, iROZHLAS.cz warns, even this new deadline may not be met, as the Justice Ministry has still not put forward a draft proposal, saying it won't be ready until at least September.

SPOLU comes first in mock student European Parliament election  

The SPOLU coalition (Civic Democrats, Christian Democrats and TOP 09) has come first in a mock election to the European Parliament held at 265 secondary schools across Czechia this Tuesday and Wednesday.

SPOLU received 15.2 percent of the mock vote, followed by the coalition Oath and Motorists with 14.2 percent and the Pirate Party with 11.6 percent of the vote.

Some 22,880 secondary school students aged 15 and over took part in the voting, organized by the human rights NGO People in Need to popularize elections with first-time voters.

Two rooms in Faculty of Arts building to be places of remembrance for December shooting victims

Two rooms and a corridor connecting the two on the fourth floor of Charles University's Faculty of Arts building in Prague are to serve as places of remembrance for the victims of December's mass shooting, starting from Friday and continuing until the end of the year. The faculty management has installed commemorative stones, flowers and a piano in the rooms so visitors can express their condolences and remember those they lost.

The December 21 mass shooting last year left 14 people dead and a further 25 injured. The faculty closed for about two months after the incident. The building reopened in February, with the exception of the fourth floor, where the shooting took place.

More people charged in hockey championship fake tickets case

The Prague police have so far discovered 600 cases of fake or repeatedly sold tickets for the Ice Hockey World Championship currently taking place in Czechia. So far three people, of whom two were actively involved in forging tickets, have been charged by the Prague police with fraud worth CZK 2 million. At a press conference on Thursday, police chief Petr Matějček and head of cybercrime Václav Písecký once again urged fans to be cautious when buying tickets for the games.

A 24-year-old man from Ostrava has also been charged with ticket fraud, the Moravian-Silesian police said on Thursday. He sold fake tickets not only for the hockey championship but also for the Depeche Mode and Rammstein concerts that took place this year in Prague.

The hockey tournament continues until this Sunday, May 26.

Sci-fi series Foundation resumes filming third season in Prague following Hollywood strikes

The third season of the Apple TV+ series Foundation, which is loosely based on the science fiction book series of the same name by Isaac Asimov, has resumed filming again in Czechia after being suspended due to the US screenwriters and actors' strike last year, the Czech Association of Audiovisual Producers stated in a press release on Thursday. The third season is being shot in Prague and Poland, where Czech crew members have also gone to help out. Filming is expected to continue until at least the end of August.

The second season of the series, released in 2023, was also filmed in Prague.

Book World Prague 2024 gets underway

The 29th international book fair and literary festival Book World Prague, held annually by the Association of Czech Booksellers and Publishers, got underway on Thursday at the city’s Výstaviště grounds.

The event, the biggest of its kind in Czechia, brings together writers and publishers from around the world. Among the biggest guests this year is Irish novelist John Boyne and German writers Bernhard Schlink, Peter Stamm and Tanya Stewner.

The main motto of this year’s festival, which honours the centenary of Franz Kafka, is his quote “A book must be the axe for the frozen sea within”. Unlike in previous years, the guest of honour isn’t just one country, but German-language literature as a whole.

Weather forecast

Rain and thunderstorms are predicted on Friday in some parts of Czechia, with the most severe storms expected in the mountainous belt from the Ore Mountains to the White Carpathians. Storms are also expected in southwestern Bohemia in the afternoon and evening.

The Czech Hydrometeorological Insitute has issued a warning for torrential rain with a possibility of hail. The storms should occur mainly during the day, calming down at night. Daytime temperatures should range between 17 and 21 degrees Celsius.