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Israel will end its war in Gaza after achieving three goals: the return of kidnapped hostages, dismantling Hamas’s military infrastructure, and removing the security threat to Israel, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said after meeting with his Czech counterpart Jan Lipavský in Prague on Thursday.
Mr. Sa’ar also said that Israel has appealed the International Criminal Court's decision to issue arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Galant, calling it outrageous.
Czech Foreign Minister Lipavský emphasized that the immediate release of hostages has been Czechia's main demand in international resolutions. He called for direct negotiations between Israel and Palestine's legitimate political representatives for a lasting solution and noted that the Czech Foreign Ministry has committed over CZK 25 million in humanitarian aid to Gaza over the past year.
Since the Hamas attack on southern Israel, which killed nearly 1,200 people and took 251 hostages to Gaza, more than 44,000 Palestinians have died, with over 105,000 injured, according to Palestinian Ministry of Health data.
Several dozen people protested against Saar's visit to Czechia at the Foreign Ministry building. They demanded that Czech relations with Israel be severed and that the Czech Republic support sanctions against the country in the European Union.
Czech police have charged 14 women in connection with a large-scale prostitution ring operating in Ireland. According to Jaroslav Ibehej, spokesman for the National Centre against Organised Crime (NCOZ), the women face charges of pimping and participating in an organised criminal group.
The alleged leaders of the group could face up to 12 years in prison, while the others could be sentenced to as many as 10 years. Police estimate the group made at least 10 million crowns from their criminal activities.
Investigators say the group established a hidden network in 2019 to profit from prostitution in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. They recruited women from vulnerable backgrounds and handled all aspects of the operation, including advertising, transportation, and accommodation.
Czechia and Italy, with the support of other member states, are calling on the European Union to ease sanctions to be applied from next year that would fine car manufacturers that do not sell a sufficient share of electric cars, ČTK has reported. This call involves a so-called ‘non-paper’, an informal document, which representatives of Prague and Rome will present at Thursday’s meeting of EU industry ministers in Brussels. The two-page document states that "the competitiveness of the European automotive industry must remain a central point of EU policy”, and is supported by Austria, Bulgaria, Poland, Romania and Slovakia.
Czechia sent its proposal to individual European countries in October and subsequently agreed on a joint approach with Italy. According to some experts, there is not as much interest in electric cars as originally expected because individual countries have not created favourable conditions for their use. Critics of Brussels' approach also claim that if carmakers have to pay fines, they will not have the money to invest in the development of new electric cars.
The sale of the British mail company Royal Mail to the EP Group of Czech billionaire Daniel Křetínský is close to completion, and could be confirmed within the next two weeks, the BBC has reported. Křetínský's advisors met with union representatives this week. According to some sources, union members still have concerns about Křetínský, but the union representatives nevertheless described the meetings as constructive, writes the BBC.
Křetínský's offer values the company Royal Mail at £3.6 billion (almost 110 billion CZK). The management of the company International Distribution Services (IDS), which owns Royal Mail, accepted the offer in May and recommended that its shareholders approve it. Royal Mail can trace its history back to 1516, and currently employs more than 150,000 people. Křetínský has previously stated that he has the "utmost respect" for its history and tradition.
More than a quarter of Czechs do not feel mentally healthy, marking a decline from 23 percent last year, according to a survey conducted by IPSOS for the insurance company BNP Paribas Cardiff. Young adults aged 18 to 24 are particularly affected, with more than half struggling to manage stress and 37 percent reporting poor mental health.
The BNP Paribas Cardiff Security Index measures how secure Czechs feel in four basic areas: home, finances, work, and health. It also takes into account potential risks and their coverage in each of these areas. Compared to last year, the index rose by one point to 44 out of 100.
The Central Bohemian town of Říčany has been ranked the best place to live in Czechia for the seventh consecutive year, according to the annual Quality of Life Index published on Thursday.
The annual list, put together by the Municipalities in Data project, is created by using data from sources such as the Czech Statistical Office, the Ministry of Education, and the Labour Office. It assesses 29 factors, including life expectancy, unemployment, community services, housing availability, and air pollution.
Prague held its second-place position, while Hustopeče in South Moravia moved up to third, overtaking Brandýs nad Labem-Stará Boleslav, which now ranks fourth. At the other end of the scale, municipalities in northern Bohemia and northern Moravia continue to dominate the lowest rankings.
A dog named Amálka, belonging to a Czech owner, was found on Thursday after going missing nine days ago at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris. The black mutt was discovered alive and well in a park in Villeneuve-sous-Dammartin, a few kilometers from the airport, according to French website Le Parisien.
The pet, which helps her owner manage a concentration disorder, had been transported in the luggage compartment of a plane but escaped on the tarmac when airport staff were unloading luggage. A search involving airport personnel and a drone led to the dog’s recovery.
The story of the dog’s disappearance and subsequent search has attracted widespread attention from French media outlets.
Friday will be mostly cloudy with occasional rain or snow showers and steady snowfall in the mountains. Temperatures will range from 3 to 7 °C, dipping below freezing at higher elevations.
On Monday, the organization Platforma pro včasnou péči (“Early Care Platform”) hosted a roundtable discussion in the Chamber of Deputies to explore the importance of early childhood development and ways to make the Czech Republic a more family-friendly place. I went there to hear from a number of researchers and decision makers on what Czechs can do to help protect their children and set them up better for life.
The military air base in Prague-Kbely is planning to establish a new memorial featuring a Russian/Soviet Yakovlev Yak-40 aircraft. A petition opposing the idea has been initiated by soldiers, who advocate for showcasing a Czech aircraft instead.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar is visiting Czechia on Thursday on his first official foreign trip since taking office less than a month ago. Saar is set to meet his Czech counterpart, Jan Lipavský, at the Černín Palace in Prague to discuss the current situation in the Middle East and bilateral cooperation. Later in the day, he will also be received by Senate President Miloš Vystrčil.
Seven experts from Czechia have been ranked among the top one percent of the world’s most cited scientists, according to the Highly Cited Researchers 2024 list by Clarivate. The list includes ecologist and botanist Petr Pyšek and physicist Tomáš Jungwirth, who was recently honoured with Czechia’s most prestigious scientific award, Czech Head.
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