The Daily Dozen: 12 things to know about Czechia today

More money for education|The Ministry of Education said that Czech universities will receive 8 percent more money than this year, bringing next year's budget to CZK 30.9 billion, ČTK reports. The Council of Universities says that the median salary for secondary school teachers was CZK 47,250 this year, more than the median gross monthly salary of a university assistant, which was CZK 43,400 in the first half of 2022.

Cinema award|Prague's Kino Pilotů received a prize at the Europa Cinemas Awards earlier this month, the first win for a Czech movie theatre, Czech Radio reports. The cinema received a prize for Best Programming. Manager Alžběta Macolová puts the cinema's success down to the diversity of its program, which mixes blockbusters and popular movies with independent films and documentaries. 

Book taxi|The Knihobot online secondhand bookstore launched the second annual Knihotaxi (Book Taxi) in Prague, which allows readers to trade in books from their personal library, including past gifts, in exchange for money. The service is free, and for every book sold, Knihobot pays 60 percent of the selling price of the book minus CZK 29. Read more in our story.

Air travel|After a successful first year since launching its base in Prague, Eurowings will add three more routes next summer, to Geneva, Rhodes, and Corfu, according to Simple Flying. The frequency of flights for its most popular routes, which are Copenhagen, Malaga, Alicante, Athens, and Stockholm will also increase starting next summer. Eurowings is a budget carrier part of the Lufthansa Group.

Trains|Czech Railways will reinforce long-distance trains on its busiest routes before the Christmas holidays and on New Year's Day, and offer several hundred additional seats. The seats are part of extra carriages that will be dispatched from Dec. 22 and run until Jan. 2. Read more in our story.

Ice warning|Icy roads are posing problems for both pedestrians and drivers across the Czech Republic, according to Seznam Zprávy. A number of suburban buses in the vicinity of Prague were canceled or delayed, while traffic was also problematic in the Moravian-Silesian, Hradec Králové, Vysočina, and Zlín regions.

Medical professionals from the Havířov Hospital advise pedestrians to adopt a penguin-like walking style, which increases the center of gravity and thus stability.

Welcome to Schengen|On Dec. 21, 2007 the Czech Republic joined the Schengen area together with eight other countries, namely Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia. The area allows free movement of people between countries that are Schengen members without having to go through border control.

Christmas at the Zoo|Zoo Praha has prepared a special program for Christmas and the end of December. This includes an admission fee of CZK 1 for children under 15 on Dec. 24 to 26; additionally, people can bring apples, carrots or nuts for the animals on Dec. 24. Some of the zoo's residents, such as gorillas, elephants, or parrots will receive unsold Christmas trees between Dec. 27 and 30, and visitors can see what the animals do with them.

Prague Comic-Con|Scottish actor Brian Cox of "Succession" fame and "Lethal Weapon" star Danny Glover are some of the stars who confirmed their attendance at the Prague Comic-Con 2023. The three-day Prague Comic-Con festival takes April 14–16 at O2 universum, and its program has not yet been made public. Read more in our story.