Radio Prague International - latest articles

Every year scores of cheetah cubs are trafficked out of Somaliland to Persian Gulf states to be sold to wealthy buyers as pets. Poverty and criminal networks active in the breakaway African state have made the region a hub for trafficking of the exotic, rare cats. Czech experts are assisting an international effort to stop the practice.

A new brain bank, the first of its kind in Central Europe, recently started operating in Prague. The facility contains parts of brain tissue from patients who died of Alzheimer's or Parkinson's disease, that have been donated for research. The samples will serve scientists in their search for an effective cure of such neurodegenerative conditions.

Every year, at the close of the summer Czech ambassadors posted around the world are invited to Prague for consultations on foreign policy and economic diplomacy. The week of intensive negotiations is closely followed by the media since it is a reliable pointer as regards the country’s position on matters of global importance.

The crucian carp (karas obecný) was once among the most common fish found in Czech waters. Now, however, biologists have registered its rapid disappearance from the country’s ponds and lakes. To save the fish, a new project has been set up with the support of Prague Zoo and the University of Life Sciences.

Czech archaeologists have made a unique discovery near the mythical mount of Říp in Central Bohemia. They have unearthed a Stone Age mound, which ranks among the oldest of its kind in Europe. They also found an exceptionally well-preserved burial chamber, containing the remains of a child and artefacts from about 3,800 B.C.

The Czech Republic successfully completed three evacuation flights from Taliban-occupied Kabul last week. On board at least one of the planes were also Afghan holders of long-term residency in the Czechia. However, not all of them have been so lucky, as the case of one girl (who does not wish to be named) shows. Still stuck in a house in the Afghan capital, she contacted Radio Prague International and spoke to us about her situation. The interview was recorded on Saturday, August 21.

The parliamentary committee that oversees the BIS counterintelligence service is due to meet on Thursday to address an astounding claim: President Miloš Zeman says the secret service’s director “wiretapped” people close to him without cause and “eavesdropped” on the head of state himself.

A long-anticipated documentary on the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia by Czech director Jan Šikl premiered at the Karlovy Vary International Film festival on Saturday, on the occasion of the 53rd anniversary of the event. Called ‘Reconstruction of Occupation’, the documentary is based on long-lost footage, most of which had never been seen before.

This Saturday, Czechs and Slovaks will commemorate the anniversary of the Soviet-led invasion of August 1968, sent to crush the Prague Spring – the raft of reforms that Communist Party secretary Alexander Dubček had famously hoped would lead to “socialism with a human face”.

Passing through rigourous coronavirus safety measures, more than two-dozen Czech atheletes have set out for Tokyo to compete in the Tokyo Paralympic Games, which will kick-off with an opening ceremony on Monday. Among the paralympic team are medal holders from the previous paralympic games in Rio de Janeiro eager to defend their titles.