Radio Prague International - latest articles

The lower house of Parliament on Wednesday approved a proposal to compensate victims of state violence that occurred during demonstrations marking the first anniversary of the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia. The move highlights the fact that even 30 years after the fall of the communist regime the country has still not settled with the past.

There are over 1700 Catholic priests serving in parishes around the Czech Republic. Roughly one fifth of them are foreign priests who bring something of their culture and traditions to Czech believers. The exchange is mutually enriching, benefitting both the local community and Czech priests who tend to be fairly conservative in spreading the word of God.

One of Prague’s largest Baroque monuments, the Invalidovna in the city’s district of Karlín, is set to undergo major renovations. The Czech National Heritage Institute, which administers the building, has just unveiled plans that include striking new extensions made of glass and steel.

The Seven Churches, a Gothic crime horror, is Miloš Urban’s second novel, published in 1998 by Argo. Subtitled A Gothic Novel of Prague, it describes a murder mystery set in the city’s Nové Město and combines the genre of thriller with the characteristic features of the Gothic novel with a dose of black humour. It has been described as one of the most haunting and terrifying thrillers to come out of Europe in years and was translated into 11 languages, becoming a best-seller in Spain.  I discussed the novel with its author, Miloš Urban:

Without a new state of emergency – due to start next Monday – the Czech Republic would see an even sharper rise in Covid-19 infections and deaths. That is the message from the minister of health, whose plans include capping attendance at indoor events at 10 and barring spectators at sports.

This week marks the 100th anniversary of the publication of R.U.R. , the dystopian theatre play by Karel Čapek that introduced the word ‘robot’ into English – and to science fiction as a whole. A new exhibition called A Journey into the Depths of the Robot’s Soul focuses on how Čapek’s ground-breaking play was received and staged abroad.

Remember the demonstrations against Prime Minister Andrej Babiš that drew hundreds of thousands of people in Prague last year? The young leader of the organisers of those protests – Million Moments for Democracy – has just quit, with a view to launching a party that would contest general elections next year. But what chance would Mikuláš Minář really have at the ballot boxes? I discussed his planned move with political scientist Jiri Pehe.

The river Bečva, in Moravia, has been struck by the worst environmental disaster in over a decade. A forty-kilometre stretch of the river near Přerov was contaminated by cyanide from an unknown source several days ago. Since then fishermen have netted over thirty tons of dead fish from the river which experts say has been totally devastated. I spoke to Pavel Vrána from the Czech Fishing Association about the extent of the disaster.

Moravian-born Tereza Tomanová has just finished her MA in Multimedia Journalism in the UK. Her dissertation led her to create ‘Where is my home?’, a documentary exploring the stories of Czechoslovak emigres who moved to Britain during the communist era, through a mix of interviews and archival film footage. I spoke to the fresh graduate and began by asking her how she came up with the idea.

One of the most anticipated events of the Bohemian, Moravian and Slovak expat community in the United States is the annual Moravian Day Festival, which traditionally takes place in Chicago at the end of September. This year’s 81st edition scheduled for the upcoming weekend had to be cancelled to the public due to coronavirus, but people can still enjoy it online.