The Daily Dozen: 12 things to know about Czechia today

Ukraine|The Czech capital has sent 626 diesel heaters and 18 power generators were sent to the Ukrainian cities of Kyiv and Mykolaiv. The city of Olomouc, in Central Moravia, dispatched hundreds of generators to Kolomyia, in Western Ukraine. Ukrainian cities have been left without power due to Russian attacks on its infrastructure. Read more in our story.

Nuclear energy|Earlier this week, Austria’s lower house of parliament unanimously passed a resolution rejecting Czechia's plans to build small modular reactors. The Czech state-controlled energy utility ČEZ plans to start a pilot project for installing a small modular reactor near the Temelín nuclear power plant close to the Austrian border. Read more in our story.

Better pay for teachers|The House of Representatives passed an amendment to the Education Act today guaranteeing salaries that are 1.4 times the average gross salary in Czechia from 2024, ČTK reports. According to data from the Czech Statistical Office, the average gross monthly earnings of teachers was CZK 46,843 in 2021, which represented 115 percent of the national average wage. 

Bad marks|Former Prime Minister Andrej Babiš, who is running for president in the January 2023 elections, failed to impress a classroom full of children who asked him questions during a TV show on the Prima TV channel, iDnes reports. Babiš couldn't answer questions about the number and types of a cow's stomachs, the most famous work of writer Jaroslav Hašek, or the planets of the solar system.

Gender equality|Senator Václav Láska received the Genderman of 2022 award, ČTK reports. The intention of the award, which the Open Society has been giving out since 2017 according to its website, is to spotlight "men who support equality and stand out, for example, against sexism, unequal working conditions or violence against women." The award is a recognition of Láska's support for the ratification of the Istanbul Convention against domestic and sexual violence.

Prosperity Index|The Czech Republic has the 13th-best quality of life out of 27 EU countries, ranking among the highest of all Central and Eastern European (CEE) in a recently released index. The country scores particularly well in personal safety and healthcare availability, and less well for its environment and housing standards. Read more in our story.

Penalty for Slavia Praha|The Ethics Commission of the Football Association fined Slavia Prague and its sporting director Jiří Bílek for influencing a match with B team Příbram., iDnes reports. As a result, the Slavia football club must pay a fine of CZK 250,000, while Bílk must pay CZK 30,000 and will not be allowed to play football for ten months. The verdict comes on the footsteps of a larger corruption scandal involving Slavia.

Frost warning|Meteorologists issued a frost warning for the upcoming weekend, which will see lows dipping to -16 Celsius, ČTK reports. The Czech Republic is under a blanket of snow ranging from 7 to 15 centimeters, and in some areas up to 20 centimeters. "Today is the first day of this winter when the snow really lies at all stations of the Czech National Institute of Meteorology in the Czech Republic," meteorologists tweeted this morning.

Sustainable Christmas trees|This Christmas, buy a tree that's beautiful with all its imperfections and reduce the waste of unnecessarily cutting down trees, according to Referesher. The Save the Trees project, which is operating for the first time this year, advocates the maximum use of already cut trees. These come from Czech foresters and in some cases are discarded due to their imperfections. You can order your own Christmas tree on their website.