The Daily Dozen: 12 things to know about Czechia today

Fake news|Criminal investigators from Prague police are looking into fake news that presidential candidate Petr Pavel died last night, Seznam Zprávy reports. Metadata shows that the message was sent via the Russian Yandex service. Pavel's rival Andrej Babiš also condemned the fake news on Twitter, labeling it "disgusting" and saying "I'm sorry that someone would stoop to something like that."

Presidential rally|Thousands of people descended on the Czech capital’s Old Town Square early Wednesday evening in a final show of support for presidential candidate Petr Pavel ahead of this weekend’s vote. Pavel gave a speech, telling his supporters that he is running on a platform of dignity, decency, and truth. Read more in our story.

Vodafone tariffs|Communications provider Vodafone has announced increases to its mobile tariffs that will be valid starting Feb. 26. The changes apply to flat-rate mobile tariffs, such as mobile tariffs and packages with a regular monthly payment, which will go up by nine percent. The prices for prepaid cards, existing fixed internet tariffs and the Vodafone TV service are not scheduled to change. Read more in our story.

Air traffic|The number of flights over the Czech Republic more than doubled last year, ČTK reports. Flight traffic over the Czech Republic reached 550,194 flights last year, 52 percent more than in 2021, and 64 percent of the 2019 level, before the start of the coronavirus pandemic. The European air traffic average reached 83 percent of traffic in 2019.

Czech Switzerland|Business owners in the area of Czech Switzerland national park are concerned that plans to keep some of the local attractions off-limits might result in low visitor numbers this coming season, iDnes reports. The national park administration plans to keep Edmund's gorges of the Kamenice river and Gabriela's trail to Pravčická brána closed to visitors this season due to safety reasons after a fire last summer.

Swine fever|Culling the wild boar population, which is needed in light of the going swine flu epidemic, is causing trouble to hunters, iDnes reports. One of the reasons is the wild boar's stealthy behavior and the fact that food is abundant this year, due to the lack of snow. Additionally, once the pig is shot, it needs to be examined by the State Veterinary Institute, meaning that it can take days until it is approved for consumption.

Special tram|A tram marking 30 years since the election of former President Václav Havel took its first ride after being unveiled this morning by Prague Mayor Zdeněk Hřib. Havel, who stood for office on Jan. 26, 1993, was the first president of an independent Czech Republic and is seen as a key figure in the fall of the communist regime in Czechia. Read more in our story.

Young talent|Roman Červinka is the Czech winner of the most recent season of the international classical music reality TV competition Virtuosos V4+, Czech Radio reports. Violinist Červinka, 16, hails from České Budějovice. The reality show selected 20 people out of thousands of aspiring musicians from the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia, with one winner selected from each of the five competing countries.

90 years of Barrandov|Prague’s Barrandov Studios marks today 90 years since production started its first film. The clapper snapped at 9 a.m. on Jan. 25, 1933, to mark the start of filming on the crime drama “Murder on Ostrovní Street.” The studio was founded by entrepreneur Miloš Havel for his filmmaking company AB. Read more in our article.