The Daily Dozen: 12 things to know about Czechia today

A petition recently launched by the Czech satirical website AZ247 is calling for Russia's Kaliningrad region to split into two parts -- and join the Czech Republic and Poland. The outlandish idea was the brainchild of the satirical Twitter account papież internetu, which posted "It's time to divide Kaliningrad so that our Czech brothers finally have access to the sea." The petition notes that the inspiration is the recent referenda in eastern Ukraine.

"As Russia showed us in Crimea and is now showing us in the east of Ukraine, it is perfectly fine to step onto the territory of a foreign state, announce a referendum there and then annex the territory," the petition says.

The Czech Republic should receive about CZK 16.7 billion from a fund set up to wean European countries off of energy dependence on Russia, ČTK reports. Czech Finance Minister Zbyněk Stanjura said that the "breakthrough step toward ridding Europe of its dependence on Russian fossil fuels" came at today's Ecofin Council. The EU states still need to agree with the European Parliament on the final form of financial support.

Costs for driving schools have reached CZK 20,000 in Prague and Central Bohemia, Denik.cz reports. The head of the Association of Driving Schools, Aleš Horčička, told the media that the state calculates the exact amounts that driving schools need for their operations, such as the costs for training vehicles, simulators, training grounds, and qualified personnel, which have all increased significantly over the past two years.

Still, the difference in fees between Czech regions remains significant and ranges from CZK 13,900 for Autoškola Mikáska Beroun to CZK 22,000 for Autoškola Vocílka Roztoky.

McDonald's initiative to eliminate paper placemats might not be as environmentally friendly as it appears, Aktuálně.cz reports. Experts caution that the fast food giant is replacing paper with plastic in large quantities, for instance for straws, cups, and cutlery. McDonald's director of communications Jitka Pajurková said that the change applies as of this week to all restaurants where McDonald's employees clean and disinfect trays.

A century after the original, a remake of "Nosferatu" will start shooting in Prague this fall. It will be directed by Robert Eggers, who also wrote the screenplay. The cast includes Bill Skarsgård and Lily-Rose Depp.

The original 1922 "Nosferatu," an unauthorized adaptation of Bram Stoker's "Dracula," was partly filmed at ruins in Slovakia. Another remake, Werner Herzog's "Nosferatu the Vampyre " from 1979, was partly filmed at Pernštejn castle in South Moravia as well as mountains in Slovakia.

Two new studies conducted by Czech scientists from the Institute of Experimental Medicine of the Czech Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Physiology of the Czech Academy of Sciences looked into the composition and quality of milk, as well as the ideal length for breastfeeding. One of their main findings was that "full breastfeeding for half a year and longer has a greater effect on the development of cognitive functions in children."

Electric company Pražská energetika (PRE) will give a discount to households that reduce their annual electricity consumption in winter. Customers must reduce their consumption year-on-year compared to the time between Nov. 1, 2021, and March 31, 2022. But the discount is not automatic. To prove the savings, the customer must read the electricity meter themself by taking a photo of it and uploading it to the PRE website.

The local public library in Prague’s Dolní Chabry neighborhood was named Library of the Year 2022 by the Czech Culture Ministry. The prize includes an award of CZK 70,000. Dolní Chabry, which also won in the basic library category, was recognized for participating in the life of the local area. At the award ceremony in the Klementinum, Culture Minister Martin Baxa said that the role of libraries was changing, from not only information but also communication centers that help connect people.  

A late “granny summer” is starting in Czechia. The cloudy weather should clear up and temperatures will rise to as high as 21 degrees Celsius this week, the Czech Hydrometeorological Institute (ČHMÚ) said. The warm weather should last until at least Sunday. Meteorologists say there are three periods of granny summer (babí léto). The current one would fall under the last period, known as St. Teresa’s Summer (tereziánské léto), which corresponds to the start of October.

Czechs will receive citizenship ID cards with new protective elements, Seznam Zprávy reported. The domestic company IQ Structures, a leader in security nanotechnologies, won the government tender for producing holograms to better protect against counterfeiting. The hologram will create visual effects using nanotechnology, and will disintegrate if there is any attempt to alter it. The new cards are undergoing the final stages of testing and could be issued in the first part of 2023.

Police in the town of Vimperk, South Bohemia, responded to a call of a crocodile on the loose on a residential lawn. The potentially dangerous reptile turned out to be a plastic toy. It is unclear if there was a pun involved as the “krokodýl” incident occurred on K Rokli Street. Police are willing to return to toy to its owner but will likely have some questions.  

A man in the Central Bohemian town of Dobřejovice has the world’s largest collection of chocolate containers, according to Czech Radio. Stanislav Krámský has spent 60 years filling three rooms and the attic of his house with chocolate memorabilia. He has over 200,000 items from around the world, with some dating back to the year 1900. Part of his collection has been exhibited abroad, and some pieces relating to Czechoslovakia can be seen at the Retro museum in Kotva.