Czech weekend headlines: Film critics name Arvéd best Czech film of 2022

Czech singer and actress Naďa Urbánková passed away on Friday evening at the age of 83, her daughter Jana Fabiánová announced on Facebook on Saturday. Urbánková died from health complications linked to cancer and Covid-19, Fabiánová added.

Naďa Urbánková won the Golden Nightengale, an annual award given to Czechoslovakia's top male and female singers as voted by the public, for five consecutive years from 1972-76. She also starred in films including director Jiří Menzel's Oscar-winning Closely Watched Trains.

Tennis stars from the Czech Republic have taken a 2-0 lead over counterparts from Portugal in qualifications for the Davis Cup, which pits teams of players from different countries against each other. The Czech team is now one win away from making it into the 16-team Davis Cup finals.

On Saturday, Jiří Leheček beat Nuno Borges 6-4, 6-4 while Tomáš Macháč topped Joao Sousa 7-6, 3-6, 6-2. The Czech team can defeat Portugal with a win in a doubles match at 4:00 p.m. this afternoon; failing that, Macháč will match up against Borges and Leheček will face Sousa later this evening.

Czech film critics have named Vojtěch Mašek's psychological drama Arvéd as the best Czech film of 2022 at the Czech Film Critics Awards, which took place in Prague's Archa Theater on Saturday evening. Adam Sedlák was named Best Director for his drug dealer drama Banger, which was shot on an iPhone.

Mašek, who wrote the screenplay for last year's Best Film at the critic's awards, Occupation, made his directorial debut with Arvéd. The film tells the story of real-life occultist Jiří Arvéd Smíchovský, who collaborated with the Nazi regime and was later imprisoned by communists.

Czech inflation continued to accelerate in January compared to December 2022, according to analysts contacted by Czech News Agency. Year-on-year inflation in January 2023 is expected to be between 16-19 percent according to different estimates, compared to 15.8 percent in December.

"Year-on-year inflation will rise to 19 percent in January as a result of the fading effect of the cost-saving tariff and the further increase in energy prices," Komerční banka analyst Martin Gürtler estimates. The Czech Statistical Office will publish official data on January inflation on Friday.

A military parade won't be part of the inauguration of Czech president-elect Petr Pavel, who will become the country's fourth president on March 8, according to future Presidential Office head Jana Vohralíková. Former Czech presidents Miloš Zeman and Václav Klaus and their wives, along with ex-president Václav Havel's widow Dagmar Havlová, will be invited to Pavel's inauguration ceremony.

"We're not preparing a military parade," Vohralíková told Czech News Agency, despite the fact that Zeman hosted a military parade during his 2013 inauguration, and Pavel is a retired general. "Instead, we would like to allow the public to enter the third courtyard [of Prague Castle], where large-screen screens will broadcast the ceremonial act." 

An estimated 90,000 homes in the Czech Republic are without power this morning after heavy snowfall and high winds heading into the weekend. Energy company ČEZ is currently working to restore 130 issues with high-voltage power lines, including those that have been downed due to fallen trees.

Roads in Moravia-Silesia were impassable this morning due to fallen trees, but have now been cleared. In the Central Bohemian region firefighters responded to 80 calls overnight related to the high winds, and drivers are advised to proceed with caution. A high wind warning remains in effect for much of the country through midday today, including Prague, with a heavy snowfall warning also in effect for areas of high elevation.

The only limit for providing supplies to Ukraine should be nuclear weapons, Czech president-elect Petr Pavel told Bloomberg in an interview on Friday. He also expressed confidence that Ukraine would be able to expel Russian forces. Pavel also commented on the Chinese reaction to his talks with Taiwan, saying that China has no right to dictate who the Czech Republic communicates with.

Pavel added that Russia is not the only country to possess nuclear weapons, and the fact that NATO members hold nuclear weapons should act as a deterrent for any consideration that Russia would give towards using nuclear arms. "We have nuclear capability as well," Pavel told Bloomberg. "We don’t want to use it at all, but we are ready if necessary."

The Czech military's longstanding ban on visible tattoos will become a thing of the past, as Chief of Staff Karel Rehka signed a new regulation on Friday that will allow potential recruits with visible tattoos to join the forces. Soldiers will be allowed to have tattoos on their arms, hands, and neck, though face tattoos will still be prohibited.

"The times when only criminals had tattoos are over. These days, it is normal among young people," Rehka told Czech News Agency. "We are keeping up with the times, and above all, we have stopped bossing around people nonsensically over something that is completely normal at present. I believe this will help recruitment as well."

The number of newly-registered electric vehicles in the Czech Republic grew by a record high of more than five percent last month, according to new data released by the Association of Automobile Importers. The figures include both purely-electric vehicles and hybrids.

In total, Czech consumers registered 429 fully electric cars in January. Volkswagen saw the highest number of new electric vehicles at 107, followed by Hyundai (69) and Tesla (48). Czech car manufacturer Škoda came in fourth with 41 electric cars, but sold the highest number of hybrids, at 164.

Police in Prague have detained a man accused of staying in hotels and forwarding the invoices to companies that he had no connection to. The man is accused of around 250 cases of fraud across the Czech Republic, with damages totaling 500,000 crowns. According to police, the man would stay in hotels under his real name, and move when they realized the invoices were not being paid.

Hotels in Brno, Pardubice, Hradec Králové, and across Moravia and Bohemia were all defrauded in this manner. In addition to the fraudulent hotel stays, the man is also accused of scamming buyers through online classified listings, accepting payment for goods and not delivering them.