The Daily Dozen: 12 things to know about Czechia today

Work legislation|Changes to the Labor Code could translate into clearer guidelines for remote work, full disclosure of salaries in job advertisements, and steps to close the gender pay gap. While the change to the minimum wage was previously approved, the other changes are still pending. Read more in our story.

Strong crown|The Czech koruna was one of the best-performing currencies during the pandemic, according to analysis by Bloomberg, together with the Swiss franc, Singapore dollar, and Chinese yuan. Between 2019 and 2022, the koruna strengthened by 5.4 percent, a much better performance than other European currencies. Read more in our story.

End of Meryl Streepová|Czech daily Deník N’s editorial announcing that it was dropping the Czech suffix “-ová” for foreign women’s surnames sparked a debate about Czech language and society, Czech Radio reports. The New Year’s Day editorial said the decision divided the editorial team of the newspaper. Some of its motivations were the growing numbers of Czech women choosing not to take the suffix and the Czech society’s changing views on the matter.

Gas storage|Thanks to the warm weather in recent weeks, the Czech Republic’s gas storage capacity reached 86.31 percent on New Year's Eve, according to Gas Infrastructure Europe - AGSI+ data cited by Novinky. The strategy director of EGÚ Brno, Michal Macenauer, said that it was too early to predict how the gas storage situation will evolve, given that the weather can change at any moment. Gas prices are currently at the lowest level since the Russian invasion of Ukraine last February. 

Czech footwear no more|Legendary footwear brand Botas ended production due to rising energy costs, Seznam Zprávy reports. The company, then named Botana, started shoe production in Skutč near Chrudim in 1949; its scope narrowed down to sports shoes in 1962, and the following year it changes its name to Botas. The shoes reached the height of their popularity under communist Czechoslovakia, when they became synonymous with athletic footwear.

Prague transit|A change to a 5.2-kilometer section of the D1 highway from Chodov to Průhonice is puzzling drivers, Novinky reports. The decision is based on a memorandum concluded between the Ministry of Transport and Prague authorities in 2017. It practice, it means the speed limit on the highway stretch decreased from 130 to 110 kilometers per hour. Deputy mayor of Prague 11 Ondřej Prokop welcomed the news in a tweet. 

Prague tourism|This year, Prague City Tourism will celebrate 65 years since it was established with a year-long celebration, which culminates in the fall. Some of the accompanying events include discounted admission, themed historical rides on tram No. 42, retro walks, special souvenirs, and an exhibition. Read more in our story.

Hockey incident|A fan who started a fire during a hockey game between PSG Berani Zlín  and VHK Robe Vsetín faces up to two years in prison, ČTK reports. The local fire department extinguished the fire, which happened on Sep. 24, 2022 at the Luďko Čajka Winter Stadium in Zlín. The hockey game taking place that day ended with a final score of 0:2 (0:0, 0:2, 0:0) for Vsetín according to iDnes Sport.

Celestial events|Czech skies will offer stargazers this year meteor showers, supermoons, a comet, planets aligning, and two weak lunar eclipses. Most of these occurrences will be visible from Prague with the naked eye or binoculars, but the visibility of the night sky improves further outside the city. Two solar eclipses occurring this year will unfortunately not be visible in Europe. Read more in our story.