The Daily Dozen: 12 things to know about Czechia today

Momentous celebration|Prime Minister Petr Fiala met with a host of his predecessors yesterday to mark the 30th anniversary of an independent Czech Republic. The guest list included former prime ministers Andrej Babiš (who was in office from 2017-2021), Jiří Rusnok (2013-14), Petr Nečas (2010-13), and Mirek Topolánek (2006-09). Read more in our story.

Presidential election|The presidential race is heating up in the run-up to the elections, according to a year-end survey by Median conducted for daily Mladá fronta Dnes. The survey showed that one-third of people planning to cast their ballots don't know who they will vote for, and that race between retired general Petr Pavel and Babiš is also very close. Read more in our story.

Insolvency|The Ostrava-based Gearworks engineering company went bankrupt, in part due to its reliance on business in Russia and Ukraine, Seznam Zprávy reports. One of the companies that Gearworks supplied equipment to was the Azovstal steelworks, which was destroyed during the battle for Mariupol. The company's sales for 2021 stood at 236 million.

2023 babies|The first child baby born in 2023 is a girl named Anička, ČTK reports. She was born at the AGEL Šternberk Hospital in the Olomouc region eight minutes after midnight on Jan. 1. The first baby born in Prague is Timea, at the Institute for Mother and Child Care in Podolí. The city of Prague offers CZK 15,000 to children born on New Year's Day to mothers with permanent residence in the Czech capital.

Bird flu| A chicken farm in Brod nad Tichou is planning to gradually eliminate up to 220,000 laying hens after tests confirmed an outbreak of H5N1 bird flu, ČTK reports. The highly pathogenic strain can potentially be passed on to humans. The eggs that the hens have been laying will also be incinerated. The outdoor breeding of poultry has been banned throughout the Czech Republic due to bird flu.

Iran on screen|The 10th edition of the ÍRÁN:CI Film Festival opens in Prague and Brno this month. This year's festival will screen films under the theme of "Women, Life, Freedom." The Prague leg of the festival starts on Jan. 11 with a gala opening at Kino Lucerna, with screenings also held at Kino Světozor and Bio Oko until Jan.15, before moving to Kino Art in Brno from Jan. 17-19. Read more in our story.

Tennis legend|Prague-born tennis legend Martina Navratilova was diagnosed with stage one breast and throat cancer. Navratilova underwent treatment after being diagnosed with breast cancer in 2010, and had been cancer-free before receiving the current diagnosis. She became an American citizen in 1981 after emigrating to the U.S., and regained her Czech citizenship in 2008. Read more in our story.

Surprise win| Czech Republic’s tennis player Linda Noskova defeated Daria Kasatkina 6-3 6-7(2) 6-3 in the first round of the Adelaide International 1 WTA 500 tournament, Reuters reports. This was the first top-10 victory of Noskova's career; the Czech player is world number 102, while her opponent is world number eight.

Death of Švejk's creator|Czech writer Jaroslav Hašek died on Jan. 3, 1923. He is best known for "The Good Soldier Švejk," a novel based on his experience in World War I that is one of the best-known Czech novels, and has been translated into 58 languages, according to Czech Radio. The house in the small town of Lipnice nad Sázavou where Hašek spent the last years of his life has been turned into a small museum.