Malaysia’s on-again-off-again political partners Mahathir Mohamad and Anwar Ibrahim said “it’s time” to restore an election mandate that they won two years ago, issuing a statement together for the first time since internal bickering in February led to the collapse of their ruling coalition. The two leaders – now in the opposition – said the current government led by Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin wasn’t the choice of voters at ballot boxes and does not have a mandate to rule. The statement…

As the United States has taken a step back from world affairs to focus on an unprecedented health crisis at home, China has made full use of its massive military power to promote itself as a leader in the global fight against Covid-19.In the latest of a slew of recent overseas aid efforts carried out by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), a Chinese medical team put the finishing touches to a testing laboratory in Yangon, Myanmar’s largest city, which they had helped to build from the ground up…

by Lachlan Hyatt | Prague Daily Monitor

More than 30 years after the Fall of Communism in the Czech Republic, many of the stories of those targeted during the worst era of the regime are being forgotten as dissidents forced to work in labor camps are dying off.

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Prague Daily Monitor

According to data released by the Ministry of Interior, the number of British citizens living in the Czech Republic has increased about 35% since the Brexit referendum, and Brits with their permanent residence in the Czech Republic have risen almost 55% since 2016.

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Prague Daily Monitor

Although the suspicious cases of coronavirus at Prague's Na Bulovce were not confirmed as such, there are several other pending cases across the country. At the Prague Airport certain measures have already come together to start more intensive screening of incoming flights, for now those from China.

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Prague Daily Monitor

After the weekend hack-a-thon proved that a CZK 401 million contract for a web based vignette system can be made in a few hours time, with 60 programmers, Prague's politicians are on a witch hunt. Next is the CZK 15 billion Prague metro maintenance contract which was signed without a public tender.

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Prague Daily Monitor

So far the coronavirus, in the Czech Republic as well as most of the world, has remained relatively contained. Several suspicious cases in the country have proved negative as just normal flu or cold symptoms. People are advised to clean hands often, especially after visiting busy public places.

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Prague Daily Monitor

Strong winds felled trees on to cars and flung loose materials across the city on Tuesday afternoon. The spokesperson for the Prague Firefighter Brigade said that "so far we have responded to 23 incidents related to wind up to 15:00. The most common calls were related to fallen trees, scattered branches and debris."

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Prague Daily Monitor

The Prague Transport Authority (DPP) is funding a project to extend the tram track from Sídliště Modřany to Nové Dvory. The extension will be 1.8 kilometers long and cost about CZK 350 million. The target completion date would be 2027.

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Prague Daily Monitor

Judges will no longer have to automatically pause or delay sentences for pregnant women, or women with a child under one year old, and release them from prison if the case includes particularly serious crimes. The judges will be able to make the decision according to factors including danger to those involved. The notion was passed at the first reading in the Lower House and drafted by politicians from almost every political party.

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Prague Daily Monitor

There are about 90 Czech students studying in China from all over the country. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said that due to the coronavirus, they will assist students in getting back to the Czech Republic if the students are interested. Students should follow updates from the ministry.

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Prague Daily Monitor

A 31 year-old Czech speaking man approached the entrance to the gate armed with two knives yesterday. When police became aware of the man being armed, the man threatened the police, demanding to be let into the building. Police apprehended the suspect, nobody was injured during the incident. The suspect faces up to four years in prison for violence against an official.

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Prague Daily Monitor

A suspect has been caught on camera during an incident which set ablaze nine cars in Prague 9 on street Na Obratce. The damage is estimated to be about CZK 5 million, four cars being totally gutted. Police are looking for a suspect with serious burns on his/her hands.

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Prague Daily Monitor

The details are still unclear but early Saturday evening a car crash involving multiple vehicles was reported on the D10 close to Březina near Mladá Boleslav. Firefighters reported 27 cars involved. Micheala Fliegerova, the spokesperson for the police reported over 30 participants were involved in the crash.

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Prague Daily Monitor

With increasing cases and deaths the Czech Republic is yet to confirm its first case. All suspected cases up to Sunday have resulted in negative results, or results are still pending. The country has also managed to evacuate citizens from China to Brussels and other European destinations.

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Prague Daily Monitor

The Czech Republic has not recorded a positive test on any suspected patients to date. There have been several suspected cases, mostly from Chinese tourists in North Moravia, Brno and Prague. Futhermore, even the Czechs that were evacuated from China last week have thus far not been tested positive for the virus. There remain 105 Czech citizens in China whom want to return home. The Minister of Foreign Affairs Tomas Petricek communicated to media that if need be the country will send an airbus to China to pick them up.

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Prague Daily Monitor

If you were planning on travelling from Kobylisy metro station yesterday morning you may have found yourself disappointed. The station was closed from about 8:30 to 10:00. The western entrance, going towards Kobyliské náměstí will stay closed until Tuesday morning.

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Prague Daily Monitor

Tuesday saw a small return of winter to the Czech Republic. Temperatures dropped during the morning as clouds cleared. Soon heavy winds followed and reaped destruction on infrastructure. At the height of the destruction there were almost 18,000 households across the country with electricity outages during the day. The worst outages were felt in Southern Moravia according to E.ON. Meteorologists are also warning people to be safe in the mountains as wet snow can break branches and fell trees.

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Prague Daily Monitor

Border Police patrolling an area close to Slovakia intercepted four refugees who were walking in the area. Not far from the town of Lanžhot, squeezed between Slovakia and Austria, police noticed four young males walking in a field. The refugees are thought to come from Afghanistan but had no identity documents in their possession.

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Prague Daily Monitor

A serial con-artist, defrauding women into thinking he was a CIA agent or a director of a shopping mall, has been captured by police in Kladno. The 47 year old man, wanted for another fraud he was convicted for, has a five year prison term outstanding. The man has several prior convictions, which in the past were also fraud related; an example: conning women out of money in Tábor area or around Prague, posing as a medical doctor.

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Prague Daily Monitor

The Ministry of Labor has prepared and made available to the public a study showing that the Czech Republic is not doing enough for kindergarten capacity according to EU norms. Pre-school care thus is not available to three in ten girls and boys up to the age of three years old, which parents need.

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Prague Daily Monitor

Most mountain ranges across the country have received fresh snow. All suspected cases of coronavirus in the country have been tested negative. A young man was convicted of growing marijuana and sentenced to three years in prison. The Prague Monitor is continuing its fundraiser to upgrade its systems.

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Prague Daily Monitor

Over the weekend the weather was great, if not ideal for skiing and mountain sports. The combination of a snow dump in many areas and ideal sunny conditions brought lots of visitors to the hills. Weather wise the sun and pleasant conditions will give way to a wet unpredictable week.

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by Ileana Lobkowicz | Prague Daily Monitor

There's no doubt that the Czech Republic has a long and proud history of beer, claiming the title of highest beer-consuming nation per capita. But what is perhaps less known is that beyond the country's drinking abilities lies a centuries-old tradition of brewing beer — and in the most unlikely of places: monasteries.

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Prague Daily Monitor

Prague City Council has approved four rules which are to be used as a basis for upcoming negotiations with the Ministry of Regional Development concerning short-term rental platforms. Counselor Hana Marvanova said that the largest change would be for Airbnb and other short-term rental platforms to provide municipalities with information about rentals. The four rules include limiting rentals, neighbors permission before going live on the platform, and fulfilling the same safety and building standards as hotels.

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Prague Daily Monitor

The high winds from the "orkan" of the past few days have caused an estimated 50,000 trees to fall in the Šumava National Park. The exact count of the damage to the park is still being calculated by park rangers.

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Prague Daily Monitor

The city of Chur, Switzerland had some excitement on Thursday when a 55 year-old Czech walked into a bank with a pistol, shooting into the ceiling twice, terrifying patrons. The man managed to walk away from the bank with several tens of thousands of Swiss Francs. The suspect was found soon after, sitting in a pub calmly, drinking a beer reported a Swiss daily Tages-Anzeiger.

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Prague Daily Monitor

Along with spring comes Million Moments next protests, scheduled for March 1st in Prague. The planned gathering place is Hradčanská, from which the movement will take a scenic walk to Staroměstské náměstí and begin the official protest. The planned protests are the result of Wednesday's election of Stanislav Křeček as Ombudsman. The movement will inform the public on February 16th about dates for protests in other main cities across the country.

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Prague Daily Monitor

In an article written by Jakub Plíhal for news server Aktualne.cz, about Prague's coming war with short-term rentals, he covered a symbolic protest in a building where out of seventeen flats only three are occupied by families permanently. Prague Mayor Zdeněk Hřib joined the protest organized by the Stop Airbnb group.

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Prague Daily Monitor

A second case of bird flu was discovered in Pardubice area at a commercial chicken farm, the spokesperson for the Minister of Agriculture Vojtěch Bílý communicated the news to ČTK. The first case in three years was discovered this year in January at a farm in small farm in the Žďár area. The Ministry is still analyzing the situation and will hold a press conference which will include the Minister of Agriculture and the Director of the Czech Veterinary Office.

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Prague Daily Monitor

A common topic over the past several years: temperature records falling on the positive side. The past several years have been some of the hottest in human's short recorded history. Again yesterday several records were broken, including České Budějovice's Rožnov where the temperature has been measured for 136 years.

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Prague Daily Monitor

Police from the National Center Against Organized Crime suspect an employee from the General Financial Directorate of agreeing to a ten million crown bribe, five million of which he had personally taken possession of. The spokesperson for the General Financial Directorate Zuzana Masatova said "the employee has been removed from service."

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Prague Daily Monitor

According to a story run in Deník N, a blind woman going out for a morning walk ran into a nightmare scenario on Monday in Prague's trendy Žižkov area.

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Prague Daily Monitor

Whether PM Andrej Babis (ANO) was attacked by the Million Moments demonstrations, accused by the European Commission of a conflict of interest in wrongfully taking European subsidies after an audit was completed, or the December investigation reopening concerning a construction project, his party continues to lead by a huge margin in polls.

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Prague Daily Monitor

The Czech political parties are promising more efficient offices, mainly through digitalization. The proposed law for a faster and more effective state originally came from the Starostové a nezávislí party (STAN). Since then ANO and ČSSD have pledged to fulfill the goals of the Digital Česko plan. ODS and the Pirates also have digitalization as part of their platform.

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Prague Daily Monitor

As seems to be the norm this winter, the Czech Republic had another day of record warm temperatures on Sunday. With the warm temperatures came high velocity winds which knocked out electricity for hundreds of homes in the western part of the country, caused traffic accidents and as much as a 30% halt in railways service.

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Two Hour School

For bilingual families, choosing a school may no longer be a dilemma. The Two Hour School has opened in Prague.

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by Paul Lysek | Prague Daily Monitor/Unicare

With the headlines full of stories written to cause us anxiety about the flu and coronavirus, we asked our partners at Unicare, a Prague premium healthcare company, to help us write up some key important facts about what to look for and how to deal with symptoms.

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Prague Daily Monitor

The Prince of Lichtenstein Foundation has lost its case concerning ownership of 600 hectares of forest close to the city of Říčany, outside of Prague. The Constitutional Court upheld the prior verdict in the case which was not to return the 600 hectares of forest to the foundation. "The Prince of Lichtenstein will in this case use all possible tools and opportunities to get justice in an international court and international institutio," said the foundation's spokesperson.

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by Brad McGregor | Prague Daily Monitor

Not only are US citizens living overseas able to vote in all the various US elections, when it comes to Democrats, they are also able to participate in the exciting primary process. Next week, those Americans will get their chance to go to the polls as part the Global Democrats Abroad Primary, which is held alongside 15 other state primaries on Super Tuesday—a day that usually decides the Democrats' nominee.

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HomeToGo

As we celebrate the International Wheelchair Day this coming Sunday on March 1st, we are sharing the results of a report into the 'Most Wheelchair-Friendly Cities in Europe'. Prague ranked at spot #15 and was found to be more accessible than larger cities like Paris or London.

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Prague Daily Monitor

The first three cases of people testing positive for the coronavirus in the Czech Republic were confirmed on Sunday evening. All of the infected are in residence at the Na Bulovce hospital in Prague, one patient arriving via special ambulance from Masaryk hospital in Ustí nad Labem. One case is a male who was on a conference in Udine. The second case is a female American citizen visiting Prague while on a study abroad program in Milan. Lastly, a male who was in Italy on ski holidays.

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Prague Daily Monitor

Some people are panicking, some people are fighting at the bulk retailers across the pond, some are getting haircuts in China with a meter distance between themselves and the barber. But what is actually going on here?

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Prague Daily Monitor

There is not very much in the news outside of the fear selling virus epidemic, as it is being increasingly referred to. As of Sunday, March 8th there were thirty-two cases confirmed in the country. They are mostly people returning from Italy or close contacts. There does not appear to be any run away escalation of cases as in some other countries. But life as we know it will most likely change for a while. The Czech Republic seems to be the first country to threaten quarantine breakers with a maximum fine of CZK 3,000,000.

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UNYP

Last month a new partnership agreement was signed between the University of New York in Prague and SUNY Empire State College. Under the agreement, SUNY Empire students would have access to new extensive study abroad and exchange programs between New York and the Czech Republic, which would incorporate a wide range of educational options to experience Prague.

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Prague Daily Monitor

The Covid-19 virus brought new measures to the Czech Republic. With cases quickly growing to over 10,000 in Italy, and surrounding countries running over a thousand cases each, the Czech Republic has decided to try and get ahead of the virus and stop its spread. Schools are closed for an unspecified amount of time. All activities which have groups larger than 100 people are cancelled.

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Prague Daily Monitor

Europe and the world are entering a new phase in the fight against the epidemic. Yesterday, the WHO declared the spread of the Covid-19 virus a pandemic. The Czech Republic is closing in on 94 confirmed cases as of Wednesday night. This includes a few cases which are not traced to a patient zero, meaning the patient got the virus from another person who may not yet be known to the health authorities.

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Prague Daily Monitor

Starting today, the city requests that all people using Prague public transport to wear protection across their nose and mouth. Also, the Mayor of Prague Zdeněk Hřib recommended to stores that they insist that customers cover their face and nose as well.

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Prague Daily Monitor

In Brno yesterday, a thirty-six year old man tried to enter a local supermarket without proper face protection. The fifty-nine year old security officer on duty was not willing to yield the rule and demanded the man not enter. A scuffle broke out and it ended with the customer being driven off in an ambulance.

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Prague Daily Monitor

The government has already passed several measures which are designed to assist and help people cope with the situation surrounding the current lock-down, school and business closures and other related problems. The government has agreed to compensate employees of closed businesses, which include restaurants, bars, stores and other deemed non-essential operations. The government will compensate 80% of wages for the employees who are affected.

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