The Daily Dozen: 12 things to know about Czechia today

The Czech Foreign Ministry announced it would not issue visas for Russian hockey players from two American ice hockey teams from NHL scheduled to play in Prague. Russians fleeing their country to avoid mobilization are also ineligible for humanitarian visas for the Czech Republic, the ministry said. The Nashville Predators and San Jose Sharks, which have Russian team members, are scheduled to play games at O2 Arena in Prague in October.

Voters can cast their ballots for the Prague City Hall, Czech Senate and municipal elections today and tomorrow. The municipal elections are taking place in a single round on Sept. 23 and 24, and are open to EU citizens over the age of 18 with a temporary or permanent residency permit. The current municipal elections are being held at the same time as Senate elections, in which only Czechs can vote. At this time, three Prague districts are voting for senators, namely Prague 6, 10, and 11.

Prague tomorrow will host TEDxUNYP, which is the biggest English-language TEDx event in the Czech Republic. The conference will bring together scientists and CEOs, artists, and athletes from all over the world to discuss the theme of "Evolution." Some of the speakers include Farokh Shahabi, co-founder and CEO of Formaloo, and Sara Polak, founder of Paioneers lab - Paralelní Polis. While TED events have a more global approach, TEDx ones typically focus on a local community and concentrate on local voices.

Other European countries are doing better than the Czech Republic in building "smart cities," which enlist digital, information and communication technologies for more efficient use of infrastructure. Czechia placed last out of 10 countries in a study that the Opinion Matters agency conducted for Vodafone. Czechia has only one evolved smart city and several that have only started their digitalization. Spain placed first with 16 evolved smart cities.

Shopping centers in the Czech Republic saw record sales in the second quarter of this year, which were 17.3 percent higher than in 2019, ČTK reports. The Association of Shopping Centers (ACN) took into account pre-pandemic data, since figures for 2020 and 2021 were skewed by coronavirus measures. May was the month with the highest sales so far this year, surpassing the same month in 2019 by 23 percent. While people come to shopping centers less often than before the pandemic, they also tend to spend more.

Mathias Vacek won the silver medal at the under-23 men's mass start race held at the World Road Cycling Championships in Wollongong, Australia, ČTK reports. In addition to a spot on the podium, the ranking represented the first Czech medal in this age category in the history of the World Cycling Championships. Czech Pavel Novák finished in tenth place in the opening race for the junior category at the championships.

A silent march protesting against lax punishments for domestic violence took place in Prague’s center and finished before the seat of the Czech Justice Ministry yesterday. Several hundred protesters carried banners saying "fair punishment" or "suspended sentence is not enough." After the end of the march, the demonstrators tied purple ribbons, the symbol of the victims of domestic violence, to the bars of the Justice Ministry building. The group Bez trestu (Without Punishment) says that according to available data, every other perpetrator of a reported rape in the Czech Republic receives a suspended sentence.  

People with masks or respirators are becoming more common in public transport. Wearing face protection in public has been completely voluntary since the middle of April but some restrictions still apply in hospitals. A straw poll by news server iDnes, however, showed that only a quarter of people are considering wearing a mask. In the past seven days, laboratories in Czechia revealed almost 15,900 new infections, about 1,450 more than the week before. The real number of those infected with Covid is many times higher, experts say, as many people have no symptoms or a mild course.

Suburban trains could run under Prague in the future. A study that will be completed by the end of next year will examine the technical possibilities of building the tunnel as well as the economic impact of the project, news server iDnes reported. The suburban Metro S lines would run as often as the subway. The construction would free up tracks for planned high-speed trains. Construction on the project won’t start until 2035 at the earliest. The lines would have stops at Smíchovské nádraží, Karlovo náměstí, the State Opera, Florenc, Karlín, Albertov, and náměstí Bratří Synků.

Package sizes of many products are getting smaller while the price remains the same or increases. ‘Shrinkflation’ has hit Czech products such as the Perla vegetable oil spread, which used to be in 500-gram tubs but over the summer quietly changed to 450 grams, a reader of daily Metro noticed. The trend is not new, though. Website Skrblik.cz has been tracking the issue for years and maintains a list of the offenders. Other recent slimmings include the Studentská pečeť chocolate, Figaro chocolate, and Hellmann's tartar sauce. Manufacturers defend the size reductions of candy by saying the smaller serving is healthier.

Between Sept. 26 and Dec. 15 trams will not run on Prague's Bubenské nábřeží between Vltavská and Dělnická due to track repairs as well work on water pipes, sidewalks, and roads. Trams will make a detour, according to the Prague Public Transit Company (DPP). Changes will occur to the routes of trams 1, 6, 12, 14, and 25. A substitute X25 bus will run between Strossmayerovo náměstí and Maniny. Full details are on the DPP website.

The autumn equinox occurred at 3:03 am local time, marking the time when fall has fallen. The equinox happens when the amount of daylight hours equals those of night. Nights will be longer and days shorter until the winter solstice on Dec. 21. Days will then get longer until the spring equinox on March 20, 2023, when day and night are the same length again. Daylight hours will continue to lengthen until the summer solstice on June 21. Czech meteorologists use a different calculation for the seasons for statistical purposes. For them, fall began Sept. 1 and will last until the end of November.