The Daily Dozen: 12 things to know about Czechia today

Presidential debate|The three presidential election frontrunners took part in the final televised debate Thursday evening before the first round of voting for the election, which gets underway today. While Danuše Nerudová and Petr Pavel faced off in previous debates, this was the first debate that former Prime Minister Andrej Babiš also attended. Read more in our article.

Renewable energy|The Ministry of the Environment has started "mapping potential zones for the development of renewable resources," spokeswoman Dominika Pospíšilová told iDNES.cz. Martin Sedlák, program director of the Union of Modern Energy, said the work, which began last year, is "an essential tool for speeding up the construction of mainly solar or wind power plants."

History and beer| Břevnov Monastery turns 1,030 years old on Saturday, Jan. 14. While Bohemia's oldest monastic structure now serves a more secular function – the area has become a bustling neighborhood park and a popular backdrop for wedding photos – a handful of monks still occupy the grounds. Read more in our story.

Earthquake in Karvina|One person died and 16 were injured in an earthquake at OKD's ČSM-Jih black coal mine in Stonava in the Karvina region on Thursday, ČTK reports. In most cases, the injuries were minor. OKD spokeswoman Naďa Chattová told ČTK the accident happened at a depth of about 1,100 meters below the surface. Most of the injured were released to home care on Thursday.

Fake financial aid|Scammers are defrauding people through websites that pretend to be affiliated with the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, Seznam Zprávy reports. While the state websites have the domain mpsv.cz or destnikprotidrahote.cz, the fraudulent ones, which are accessible via text message, are similar to npsv.online (such as mpsv-prihlaseni.cz, mpcv.cz, mpvs-bydleni.cz).

Kafka's diaries|A new edition of Prague-born writer Franz Kafka's diaries is out this week, JTA reports. “The Diaries of Franz Kafka,” translated by Ross Benjamin and published by Penguin Random House, collects Kafka's diary entries between 1908 and 1923, and musings on topics such as religion, sexuality, and culture. This edition of his diaries includes passages that previous ones left out.

Perfect řízek|A mainstay of Czech restaurants, řízek (the Czech version of schnitzel) is also easy to make at home, if you know the secrets to a perfectly crispy triple layer of breading outside and the juiciest meat inside. Some of these are choosing the right meat, going for triple coating, skipping the oil, and reading our article for a complete guide to the cooking process.

Rainy, warm weekend|Temperatures will remain above freezing this weekend, which will also bring increasing cloudiness and occasional rain showers, according to the Czech Hydrometeorological Institute. Daily highs will rise to 10 degrees Celsius today, and stay between 8 and 10 degrees on Saturday and Sunday; lows will above freezing for all three nights.

Origins of trdelník|A video of an individual skipping around Prague's most tourist-concentrated areas in a trdelník costume bearing the words "I am not Czech tradition" has led to much debate on social media about the true origins of the tubular funnel cake. Despite recent claims that the sweet is a Czech creation, its origins go back to Transylvania. Read more in our article.