Czech news in brief for August 5: Wednesday's top afternoon headlines

Good afternoon, a new poll has shown that the vast majority of Czechs is on board that climate change is a reality and a serious problem. What people still seem to disagree on, however, is how urgent action is needed, and whether that's an issue that can be left for future generations.

Meanwhile on Wenceslas Square, others have decided to send a message from the present to those same future generations in the form of a time capsule buried under the future tram lines.

And from the Liberec Zoo, we find a silver lining that even when the present seems bleak and endangered, life can still find a way.

Now, to today's top story.

Motorist leader and MP Filip Turek is being investigated by the police on suspicion of causing bodily harm through negligence, a police spokeswoman confirmed today. No one has been charged yet in relation to last month's collision between Turek's car and an ambulance in Prague's city center, and authorities have refused to provide any further information while the investigation is ongoing.

A confident Motorist. In an interview with TN.cz, Turek said that "I think the investigation will go well for me because I kind of know the regulations," also suggesting the ambulance driver - who was injured in the crash - stayed under hospital care longer than necessary.

A bit less than three-quarters of Czechs agree that climate change is a serious problem, according to a survey by the NMS research agency for Novinky.cz, out of which 45 percent say urgent solutions are needed right now. An additional 14 percent see it as a mild problem that has been blown out of proportions, while 7 percent deny the very existence of global warming.

Across party lines. Among supporters of all political parties except for the far-right SPD, a majority of voters sees climate change as a major issue, although there are huge differences on how immediate they believe the threat is. "This is where the political blocs differ the most," explained NMS analyst Tereza Friedrichová. "Six out of ten opposition voters see it as an urgent problem, compared to three out of ten government voters."

A new Czech General Consulate will open in Miami, U.S., on October 1, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced today, while the consular office in Hong Kong will shut down at the end of September. Officials assured the closure of the consulate will not bring any significant changes, and that its activities will be taken over by the Czech Embassy in Beijing.

U.S. presence. In addition to the Czech embassy in Washington and consulates in Los Angeles, New York and Chicago, the new Miami consular office is meant to strengthen Czechia's presence in Florida and southern U.S. states, Foreign Ministry Petr Macinka said. The Czech Republic could also open a new consulate in Austin, Texas, in the near future.

Members of the Prague New Town Association (SNMP), which has been involved in the vast revitalization of Wenceslas Square for years, have placed a time capsule under the paving of the future tram line in the upper part of Václavák. Buried at less than two meters deep, it is designed as a testimony of current times and contains, for example, newspapers, coins, photographs and a sample of the square's original paving.

A message to the future. Meant for future generations, the time capsule also includes a written document entitled "Message from Wenceslas Square", giving an account of the current political and social situation, details about the prices of goods, or information about the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on life in Prague's city center.

The Liberec Zoo, in northern Czechia, has accomplished the notable feat of breeding the critically endangered ghost glass frogs, a rare species that originates from Central America (mainly Costa Rica and Panama) and which is bred by only ten zoos in Europe.

A rare success. "The breeding of ghost glass frogs is really a great success for us," commented Liberec Zoo zoologist Petra Hnidová. "This species is very sensitive to environmental climatic conditions and needs, for reproduction, to imitate the rainy season that it experiences in its homeland as closely as possible."