Prague welcomes spring with warm weather in the forecast

Spring has arrived in the Czech Republic, with the March equinox taking place today and increasing amounts of daylight through June. Astronomical spring will officially  begin today at 4:33 p.m. local time. Weather in Prague is forecast to warm up this week to match the new season, with temperatures approaching twenty degrees Celsius expected by the end of the week.

Today, Prague's high is forecast at around 12 degrees Celsius according to local meteorologists; by Thursday and Friday, that high is expected to be around 19 degrees. Clear skies are also in the forecast for all of next week. During the night, however, low temperatures are still forecast to reach the low single-digits.

American fast food chain McDonald's celebrates thirty years of Czech operation today. The very first McDonald's in the country opened on March 20, 1992, on Vodičkova street in Prague's city center. At the time of opening, a hamburger cost 19 crowns and a cheeseburger 21 crowns. The average salary in the Czech Republic (then Czechoslovakia) was around 5,000 crowns per month in 1992.

McDonald's now operates around 100 locations in the Czech Republic, primarily in shopping centers and motorways, with about a third of the locations in Prague. Ostrava became the first Czech city outside of Prague to see a McDonald's location when it opened in 1993.

In correlation with rising fuel prices over the past weeks, sales of electric scooters have surged according to data from Czech price comparison website Heureka.cz. Sales of electric scooters were up a whopping 90 percent last week compared to previous weeks, while sales of electric bicycles had risen about 70 percent over the same span, with searches for these items currently ranking among the most popular on the website.

In addition to the rising fuel prices, warm weather heading into spring has also been a factor in their increasing popularity. Gas prices have dramatically risen in the Czech Republic over the past three weeks following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, with Natural 95 priced at an average of 47.3 crowns per liter heading into the weekend, and diesel going for an average of 49.3 crowns.

Prague Mayor Zdeněk Hřib has tested positive for Covid-19, but has no strong symptoms and will continue to work from home quarantine, Hřib stated on Twitter Saturday. Hřib joins a number of Prague politicians who have tested positive for Covid-19 over the past year, including President Miloš Zeman.

"As the mayor, I wouldn't like to stop working at this time during an unprecedented refugee crisis. I will try do to my utmost online from home quarantine," Hřib writes. Next week, Prague's crisis staff will plan to move the current assistance center for Ukrainian refugees from the Congress Center to a yet-undecided location.

About 72 percent of cyclists who died in accidents last year, according to data from the Czech Center for Transport Research. There were a total of 43 fatal bicycle accidents in 2021, and in 31 of those cases the deceased rider was not wearing a helmet. Older riders were more likely to be involved in serious accidents, with more than half of the fatalities occurring among riders over the age of 55.

According to studies, wearing a helmet can prevent serious head injuries in up to 80 percent of accidents. In the Czech Republic, wearing a helmet while biking is mandatory only for riders under the age of 18. While the overall number of serious bike accidents has decreased in the Czech Republic in recent years, the number of fatal accidents has remained consistent.

The Czech Republic's Bohemian Paradise national park has passed an international test and will retain its status as a UNESCO Geopark, park director Blanka Nedvědická has announced. The 833-square-kilometer park, known for its unique sandstone formations, is the only UNESCO Geopark in the Czech Republic.

UNESCO Global Geoparks were established in 2015 to help support areas focused on protecting unique geological features, and include 195 locations around the world. Each geopark is re-evaluated every four years, and receives a green card for inclusion on the list, a yellow card to resolve issues, or a red card for removal from the list. Bohemian Paradise received a unanimous green card from UNESCO evaluators, though they also suggested numerous ways park officials could improve going forward.

The town of Šluknov in the Czech Republic's Ústí nad Labem Region has initiated plans to repair a historic brewery that operated from 1512 through 1974, according to Mayor Eva Džumanová. The brewery is scheduled to undergo a complex reconstruction process with plans to once again brew beer. This year, the city has set aside four million crowns to repair the brewery's roof; a mini-brewery could begin operating at the location as soon as 2023.

The total cost of reconstructing the brewery is estimated to be 130 million crowns over the span of about three years. The building had been bought by a private owner in the 1990s, but burned down twice and was sold back to the town. The name of the beer the brewery will make has yet to be decided.

Following a disappointing first-round elimination at this year's Winter Olympics, the Czech Republic's national hockey team may have an easier path ahead of them at the World Cup in May. The Czech team will compete against Austria in Group B after athletes from Russia have been banned from the World Cup following a decision by the International Ice Hockey Federation announced on Friday.

Russia and Belarus have both been eliminated from this year's World Cup following the invasion of Ukraine. Originally slated to compete against a Russian team that took silver at this year's Olympics, the Czech team will now play USA, Sweden, Latvia, Norway, and Britain in addition to Austria in Group B in Tampere, Finland from May 13-29. Canada, Germany, Switzerland, Slovakia, Denmark, Kazakhstan, Italy and France will face each other in Group A action in Helsinki.

Former president Václav Klaus will not return a Medal of Pushkin awarded to him by Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2007, Klaus has told Lidovky.cz. "They would have to take me to the gallows before I rescind the medal," he added. Other noted figures who have been awarded the Medal of Pushkin have returned it in protest against Russia's war in Ukraine.

Since 1999, the Medal of Pushkin has been awarded to both Russian citizens and foreigners for significant contribution to culture, the arts, and other fields. Klaus received it at the time he was the president. "I think it is childish to return the medal demonstratively to anyone," Klaus said. Klaus said the award was not "Putin's medal," but the Medal of Pushkin, originally established by former Russian President Boris Yeltsin.

A miner has died following a cave-in at the ČSM Mine in North Moravia operated by OKD, company spokeswoman Naďa Chattová has told local media. The accident occurred in a corridor approximately 800 meters underground. The victim was an employee of a supplier, and no other injuries were reported. It took rescuers more than two hours to reach the trapped miner.

Police, trade unions, and mining authorities are now investigating the incident. OKD operates several mines in the region, and no deaths have been reported in them over the past three years. In late 2018, an underground methane explosion at an OKD mine in the area resulted in 13 deaths and 10 injuries.