Chinese embassy condemns Taiwan parliament head's visit to Prague

The Chinese Embassy in Prague has strongly condemned the visit of the Taiwanese parliament chairman You Si-Kun to the Czech Republic, the embassy spokesman said in a statement today. The Czech Senate and particular politicians are thereby undermining the Czech-Chinese relations basis and trampling on the fundamental standards of international relations, the embassy added.

You Si-Kun, who is accompanied by a parliament (Legislative Yuan) delegation in Prague, will give a speech in the Senate, the upper house of the Czech parliament, today. He will end his three-day visit to the Czech Republic with his program in the Senate.

According to available information from registration offices and political parties, approximately 180 candidates applied for this year's Senate elections. In the elections, one-third (27) of the upper house's 81 seats will be contested. The number of bidders this year is lower; in 2016, over 230 candidates applied, similar to the previous year's Senate elections. The deadline for candidate nominations ended yesterday at 4:00 p.m.

Tuesday was one of the hottest days this year in the Czech Republic. In Kopiste and Doksany, weather stations measured 35.2 degrees Celsius, which was the highest in the country. There were also 15 temperature records for July 19 at stations that are at least 30 years old. The heat warning is valid in the Czech Republic until Thursday.

A student of Czech Technical University's (ČVUT) Viktor Sinelnikov has developed an application for smart TV that can boost awareness about the Czech Republic in the U.S., the ČVUT Faculty of Electric Engineering wrote in a press release today.

Sinelnikov's application will be used by the Czech-American TV, a non-profit operator of a TV and Internet channel and three radio stations, which addresses its English transmissions to some 2.6 million U.S. households to acquaint them with Czechia's cultural heritage and other issues of interest. The new application will enable the broadcaster to address further millions of viewers, its chief John Honner said.

The North Bohemian Museum in Liberec has completed the restoration of 900 photos from the history of the city. They can be viewed on the museum's website. Photos of "old Liberec" from the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries prevail, both in terms of architecture and life in the city.

The wave of hot weather that started in the Czech Republic today will not subside until Thursday when a cold front is expected to arrive. Temperatures over 34 degrees are expected on Wednesday and Thursday, especially in East Bohemia and Moravia. Temperatures over 31 degrees will last in the southeast and east of Moravia on Friday as well, the Czech Hydrometeorological Institute (ČHMÚ) said. Experts recommend that people drink liquids and limit movement in the midday and early afternoon hours. The drought in the Czech Republic began to intensify over the past week and is expected to continue to increase due to the hot weather, according to the Intersucho project.

Prague will increase the number of places at four-year secondary schools (gymnasiums) by up to 2,000, the Czech News Agency reported. Representatives of the city and the Central Bohemia region agreed on this with Education Minister Vladimír Balaš. Prague Mayor Zdeněk Hřib and Councilor for Education Vít Šimral said there is no interest in the academic fields in Prague that industry representatives had hoped for. Prague intends to change the structure of secondary schools in favor of matriculation programs. The city will now prepare documents for the city to receive state support from the state for the expansion. This year, especially in Prague, many applicants to study at secondary schools complained that some programs filled quickly.  

Former Charles University rector Tomáš Zima officially started his campaign for Czech president in Prague’s náměstí Míru today. He has also started to collect the signatures for his presidential bid and says he has 10,000 of the necessary 50,000 so far. He now plans to meet voters in the regions. As a physician by profession, he symbolically wants to use an old Škoda 1203 ambulance for campaigning. His motto is "an extreme-less country." He said that any extreme in human behavior or politics is bad. According to Zima, it is important to keep common sense and consider matters with discretion. The first round of the presidential election in the Czech Republic will be held on Jan. 13–14, 2023.

The former boss of Škoda Auto and the current chairman of the board of directors of Volkswagen, Thomas Schäfer, told newspaper Berliner Zeitung that he expects the price of new cars with internal combustion engines to increase by roughly CZK 73,000 to CZK 123,000 in the ner future. The reason is the planned introduction of the Euro 7 emission standard. He added that cars with internal combustion engines will cease to be a cheaper alternative to electric cars in the coming years, and entry-level cars for under CZK 300,000 will cease to exist. The Euro 7 standard for exhaust gas emissions is due to enter into force in 2025, though exact details are still being determined.  

A digitally restored version of the Czechoslovak film “The Ear” (Ucho) will be presented at the Venice International Film Festival, which runs from Aug. 31 to Sept. 10. The film was made by director Karel Kachyňa in 1969 but it ran afoul of communist censors and was not shown until 1990. It is based on Jan Procházka’s story of a communist functionary and his wife who realize everything they say and do is being listened to by the authorities.  

Former Deputy Prime Minister Jan Hamáček failed to appeal a verdict against him, and the Prague 5 District Court ruling has become definitive as a result. He sued news server Seznam Zprávy for CZK 10 million for defamation over articles about a planned trip to Moscow. Seznam Zprávy said Hamáček planned to use findings about Russian involvement in the explosion in Vrbětice as leverage to get Sputnik V vaccine from Russia and other benefits. In the end, the meeting did not take place. Hamáček now has to pay the court fees and also reimburse Seznam Zprávy for their legal expenses. A criminal investigation against Hamáček by the National Center Against Organized Crime (NCOZ) was previously dropped as the trip was only in the planning stages.