At the annual Signal festival of light, video-mapping and digital art focuses on revolution 30 years after the peaceful 1989 Velvet Revolution that toppled a totalitarian Communist regime, which lasted four decades in former Czechoslovakia. The country then went on to split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia four years later. Artists presenting their work at the festival look back at 1989, asking whether people are capable of a revolution now, at a time when mankind experiences unrest and protests. The seventh edition of the festival started Thursday and offers 18 installations in Prague’s historic centre with more than half a million viewers expected over four days.
Paris’s iconic Eiffel tower went dark at 9pm on Thursday evening to pay tribute to former French President Jacques Chirac, who died early in the day at 86 years old.
Former French leader Jacques Chirac has died at the age of 86, his family reported. Under his leadership, France enjoyed an independent foreign policy, distinguishing itself from European states eager to appease Washington.
Outside of his native country, Chirac is perhaps best known for his principled opposition to the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. Unafraid of then-president George W. Bush, the French statesman prevented his country from becoming entangled in the Middle East conflict, now widely regarded as a quagmire that was based on false pretenses.
He was a fierce critic of Europe’s willingness to follow Washington’s lead. In the lead-up to the Iraq war, he accused Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic – then aspiring EU states – of acting “recklessly” by showing their support for US saber-rattling aimed at Baghdad.
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An ‘Insta-famous’ couple from the Czech Republic has apologized after sharing footage of themselves inappropriately splashing holy water at a sacred temple in Bali, Indonesia.
#RT (Russia Today) is a global #news network broadcasting from Moscow and Washington studios. RT is the first news channel to break the 1 billion YouTube views benchmark.
Five critically endangered eastern black rhinos were on Monday successfully relocated to Rwanda’s Akagera National Park after a long journey from the Czech Republic.
A hundred mushers and ten bikers from 11 countries battled frost and snow at a five-day sled dog race in the Czech Republic, which organisers call one of the toughest in Europe. The 23rd year of the Czech Long Trail has attracted mushers from countries across Europe — including Austria, Croatia, Germany the Netherlands and Serbia. Mushers can choose one of two tracks — 300 kilometres with five stages and an elevation topping 9,000 metres or 200 kilometres with four stages and an elevation of 7,000 metres. In Czech, the race is called Sedivackuv long — bearing the name of a dog that strayed and was shot by a local man just before the first edition of the race in 1997.
Past month has been really rough on the EU, as protests, both violent and non-violent, have consumed some of the largest countries in the bloc.
We’ve compiled the list of all the demonstrations which have taken place in Europe during the November-December period:
• France
The Yellow Vest demonstrations began on November 17th and have since swept their way throughout France, resulting in violent clashes with police, with more than 1,000 people being arrested nationwide. The protests are motivated by rising fuel taxes and the high cost of living. More than 125,000 people have taken part in ‘Act IV’ of the demonstrations on December 8. Protesters call for the reduction of fuel prices, the raising of the minimum wage, and the resignation of Emmanuel Macron as president.
• England
Two rival marches clashed in London on December 9. Thousands of people have taken part in the “Brexit Betrayal” march, led by the far-right activist Tommy Robinson. The movement was opposed by anti-racist groups, which claim to have gathered some 15,000 people in counter-demonstrations. Mounted riot police and officers in riot gear were deployed to keep the rival demonstrators apart.
• Hungary
Nearly 5,000 Hungarians rallied in Budapest on December 8 against a proposed labor legislation dubbed “slave law.” Some of the protestors wore yellow vests, expressing solidarity with demonstrators in France over discontent with the government.
• Belgium
More than 400 people were detained by the Belgian police during the copycat yellow vest protests in Brussels on Saturday, December 8. This is the second violent demonstration in the capital in the past 8 days. A crowd of more than a 1,000 people faced riot police, which used tear gas and water cannons to subdue the masses. The movement demands the removal of Belgium’s center-right coalition government.
• Greece
Angry protests broke out in Athens on December 6, the 10th anniversary of the police shooting of 15-year-old Alexis Grigoropoulos. Police said that around 1,700 people were protesting peacefully, until masked youths started attacking police with rocks and Molotov cocktails. Law enforcement responded with stun grenades and tear gas. More than 100 people were detained.
• Norway
Thousands of Norwegians joined together all over the country to express their opposition to the suggestion, by Prime Minister Erna Solberg, to toughen abortion laws. The demonstration took place across 14 cities across the country on November 17.
• Czech Republic
On Saturday, November 17 tens of thousands of people took to the streets of Prague to demand the resignation of the Czech Republic’s billionaire prime minister Andrej Babis, who is accused of defrauding the EU by nearly €2m. The protest comes on the 29th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution, which ended the communist regime in former Czechoslovakia.
• Italy
In light of Turin–Lyon high-speed railway construction going through, tens of thousands gathered in Turin on December 8 to protest against the project, claiming that it is a waste of public funds and is damaging to the environment. The organizers of the demonstrations claimed that the rally was attended by some 70,000 people, however these numbers haven’t been confirmed by police.
• Spain
Catalan independence activists, calling themselves “Committees to Defend the Republic” blocked a highway in Tarragona for 15 hours on Saturday, December 8, preventing the flow of traffic. In Barcelona, 250 people blocked traffic on the main avenue. The Spanish government threatened to send in national police, if regional authorities couldn’t prevent such protests.
#RT (Russia Today) is a global #news network broadcasting from Moscow and Washington studios. RT is the first news channel to break the 1 billion YouTube views benchmark.
Recent drought has uncovered so-called hunger stones in the Elbe river in the Czech Republic. The boulder in the northwestern town of Decin, north of the capital Prague, is roughly the size of a utility van and bears the foreboding inscription, “When you see me, weep”.
Two dozen barrel organ players displayed their skills in Prague’s city centre within an eight-day festival that has attracted virtuosos from across Europe. Organ grinders from Austria, France, Germany, Poland, Slovakia, Switzerland and the Czech Republic offered music ranging from Mozart or Verdi to ABBA. The festival will continue in other Czech towns and cities, with more players due to take part.
(14 Aug 2018) Eight days after its birth in captivity, a rare newborn Silvery Gibbon has gone on public display at the Prague Zoo in the Czech Republic. (Aug. 14)
