The Daily Dozen: 12 things to know about Czechia today

Psychiatrist and former Minister for Human Rights Džamila Stehlíková said that President Miloš Zeman needs psychiatric help due to his alleged addiction to alcohol and tobacco. She made her comments before the start of her court case with the head of state. Zeman is asking Stehlíková for an apology and CZK 1 million for the Fund for Endangered Children for the statements she published about his health in connection with his hospitalization last year.

The Czech govt. has called an extraordinary meeting for next Friday, during which it will push for a ceiling on energy prices and a tax on extraordinary profits, Czech Television reported today. Prime Minister Petr Fiala's cabinet wants to use a state of legislative emergency to take action against high energy prices. Electricity prices could be capped at around CZK 5,000 per megawatt hour, economists have said in recent days. This would reduce the electricity costs for households.

Jana Mračková Vildumetzová (ANO) said at a press conference that she is resigning from her position of deputy speaker of the Chamber of Deputies as of Sept. 30. She was the target of criticism due to businessman Zakaría Nemrah, accused in the Dosimeter corruption case, being a witness at her wedding and the godfather of her child, which was reported on Wednesday by news servers Neovlivní and Seznam Správy.

Apple has significantly increased the price of iPhones in the Czech Republic. Prices start at a dizzying CZK 26,500. Last year, Apple surprised Czech consumers with favorable prices for the then-new iPhone 13. After a year, a significant price increase came with the new iPhone 14 series. A portfolio change is partly to blame, but the main reason will be the strengthening U.S. dollar. The company's keynote steam took place Wednesday.

Unemployment in the Czech Republic rose to 3.4 percent in August from 3.3 percent in July, according to the Czech Labor Office. Some 251,753 people were looking for work while employers offered more than 312,000 vacancies. A slight increase in unemployment is common during this period, the Labor Office said. Last August, unemployment was 3.6 percent, and almost 268,000 people were without work. The rise in unemployment is linked to a cooling economy and signals an impending recession, analysts said.

Ticket prices for train travel could see a significant of 10 to 20 percent from this December. Fares should help Czech Railways cover increased costs, but at the same time not drive passengers off of train travel, new Czech Railways CEO Michal Krapinec said. The state-owned rail carrier has suffered a CZK 900 million loss due to the increase in energy prices.

Activists are deflating car tires in the Czech Republic. Vandals in Brno deflated the tires of 29 SUVs to fight climate change. An international group called Tire Extinguishers left flyers under the vehicles' windshield wipers. According to the organization's website, tires were deflated in 17 European cities plus Canada on the night of Sept. 6–7. It was the first time the group was active in the Czech Republic Denmark and Norway.

This year, criminal investigators registered a third more murders than in the same period last year, and the brutality is also increasing. A frequent motive is strained interpersonal relationships, but there are also more contract killings. While police recorded 90 murders from the beginning of the year to the end of July, there were 65 in the same period last year. There are more murders this year even compared to the pre-Covid year of 2019.

A monument called "Return of the Stones" was unveiled at the Old Jewish Cemetery in Žižkov, next to the Žižkov TV Tower. It is made from 6,000 paving stones cut from Jewish tombstones that were recently recovered during the renovation of Wenceslas Square. Fragments of tombstones were taken from the cemetery in the mid-1980s during the construction of the TV transmitter and used for construction projects. Tombstones were also taken from other Jewish cemeteries across Czechoslovakia.

Experts from the National Institute of Mental Health (NÚDZ) have created a new website to help prevent suicides. According to them, the Czech Republic lacks an easily accessible platform where people could find comprehensive information. The website, which will also offer help in English, will start working on Saturday, which is World Suicide Day. According to the estimates of the World Health Organization, suicide is the cause of one in 100 deaths globally, Last year, 1221 people committed suicide in the Czech Republic.

A chain reading of texts of Salman Rushdie will take place at Gallery Cafe Louvre on Sept. 9 starting at 7 p.m. Anyone can participate, and texts will be available in Czech and English. Readings should not exceed four minutes.

Russian feminist art collective and punk group Pussy Riot will play Prague's MeetFactory tonight. The Pussy Riot movement, founded in 2011 gained fame for its series of guerilla performances in the public space, the most infamous of which was their Punk Prayer for Putin in August 2012 at the Moscow Cathedral of Christ the Savior, for which three members of the band received a two-year prison sentence that ended in 2013 due to intervention by Amnesty International.