News: Monday, July 1st, 2024

Czechia's top constitutional officials meet ahead of NATO summit

Czechia's top constitutional officials met on Monday to coordinate ahead of the upcoming NATO summit in Washington. President Petr Pavel, who will be representing Czechia at the summit, said at a press conference after the meeting that the crucial thing would be for all members of the alliance to remain united in their approach to security challenges.

Important agenda items he mentioned for the summit were strengthening defence and deterrence capabilities, agreeing on a long-term comprehensive support package for Ukraine, and creating a comprehensive strategy and approach towards relations with Russia. He also cited strengthening cooperation with NATO's Indo-Pacific partners, namely Australia, New Zealand, South Korea and Japan, which he said made "absolute sense" given that they shared the same democratic values, global security concerns and economic challenges as NATO and EU countries.

Foreign Ministry advising Czechs in Turkey to register with travel data base Drozd

In view of the fires that raged in the south-western parts of Turkey over the weekend, the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs has advised Czech tourists already in the country or heading there to register with the ministry’s travel data base Drozd. In the event of emergencies the ministry uses the data base to provide Czech citizens abroad with relevant information and advice or assists them with their return home. According to the Turkish authorities, the fires that broke out in the Izmir area on Saturday have been brought under control and there is currently no immediate danger to citizens, but short-term complications with services may occur in the affected areas. Thousands of Czech tourists travel to Turkey every year.

111 Czech athletes preliminarily nominated for Paris Olympics

Some 111 athletes were preliminarily nominated for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris by the Czech Olympic Committee on Monday, although this number is not final. The selection could still change, especially in athletics, which closes its world rankings this week. The final composition of the Czech Olympic team will be announced on Sunday, July 7, a day before the commitee submits its entries to the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

All the Czech Olympic gold medal winners from Tokyo 2020 (which was delayed by a year and ended up taking place in 2021) are in the selection, including doubles tennis stars Kateřina Siniaková and Barbora Krejčíková, water slalom canoeist Jiří Prskavec, and Men's +100 kg judo winner Lukáš Krpálek. No Czech team sport players qualified for the Olympics this year.

Czech Olympic clothing collection for Paris opening ceremony unveiled

The Czech Olympic Committee presented on Monday the outfits which the national team will wear to the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Paris on July 26. The garments will be in the Czech national colours, albeit slightly altered to a darker blue, muted red and creamy white, with details such as the Czech flag or inscriptions saying CZE.

The most striking element of the distinctive and modern collection is a blue and white trench coat, also inspired by the Czech "baloňák" coat, which the head of the Czech Olympic Committee, Jiří Kejval, said in a press release was meant to honour the host country due to the clothing item's popularity in France.

The new collection was designed by Jan Černý in collaboration with Alpine Pro. Černý said the collection was meant to be representative of modern emerging Czech design and was intended to stand out, as it will only be visible on screen for a few seconds.

Second baby pangolin born at Prague Zoo

The second Chinese pangolin bred in Europe has been born at Prague Zoo, the zoo announced on Facebook on Monday. The baby pangolin weighs 141 grams (without the umbilical cord) and is trying to suckle its mother's milk, but may need lactation support supplements and replacement feeding as well, according to the zoo.

The young pangopup has the same parents, the female Run Hou Tang and male Guo Bao, as the first Chinese pangolin to be born in Europe, Šiška, who was born in early 2023, also at Prague Zoo. Šiška's new sibling is more mature and active than Šiška herself was after being born, the zoo wrote.

The pair of parent pangolins were sent to Prague in 2022 from a zoo in Taiwan.

Head of Czech Syndicate of Journalists Adam Černý dies at 73

The head of the Czech Syndicate of Journalists, Adam Černý, has died at the age of 73. The Syndicate of Journalists, of which he was chairman for 18 years, announced the news on its website. Černý was a long-time contributor to the dailies Lidové noviny and Hospodářské noviny. He also closely cooperated with Czech Radio.

In 2006 Adam Černý received the prestigious Ferdinand Peroutka Award for outstanding journalism. The Ferdinand Peroutka Prize, launched in 1995, is named after one of the most prominent Czech journalists of the 20th century.

Weather forecast

Tuesday is expected to be overcast with a chance of some light rain throughout the day. Daytime temperatures should range between 15 and 20 degrees Celsius.