The Daily Dozen: 12 things to know about Czechia today

Cheaper fuel|After a temporary rise at the start of the year, fuel prices have dropped again, ČTK reports, citing data from CCS, which monitors fuel prices. Since last Wednesday, the average price of the best-selling Natural 95 gasoline has been CZK 36.22 per liter, while the average Diesel price has been CZK 37.29 per liter. Since peaking at the end of October, fuel prices have seen a downward trend.

Mall.cz closures|Retailer Mall Group – owner of the Mall.cz shop – has announced that it will close all of its brick-and-mortar stores by late January 2023. Some of the reasons are a decline in retail sales and a merger with Polish e-commerce firm Allegro, as well as the increasing popularity of online deliveries. Read more in our story.

Cyber attacks|Several Czech institutions, including the Ministry of Finance, Transport, Industry and Trade, have been reporting so-called DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attacks since this morning, according to iDnes. The National Office for Cyber ​​and Information Security has previously issued a warning about the increased risk of DDoS cyber attacks, most likely linked to the war in Ukraine.

Fun by the pool|Lack of snow made tourists going to the mountains change their plans, and instead of heading for the slopes go to swimming pools and water parks instead, Seznam Zprávy reports. Visitors were undeterred by admission fees that went up between 10 to 35 percent since the start of the year, due to increased costs for the operation of the swimming pools and water parks.

Bike to work|People in Czechia will be encouraged to cycle, jog, or walk to work in a week-long initiative that starts next Monday, Jan. 23. Organized by sustainable-transport firm AutoMat, the program calls on people to improve their physical health while simultaneously increasing their use of sustainable transport. Read more in our article.

Ukrainian students|The Czech-language schools of Ukrainian students enrolled in Czech schools depend in large part on their proportion in a class, Seznam Zprávy reports, citing research from PAQ Research in collaboration with the Institute of Sociology of the Academy of Sciences. Around 17 percent of refugees with more than 5 Ukrainian classmates are able to communicate in Czech in normal situations, compared to 29 percent of children in classes with fewer Ukrainian students.

Metro signs|Prague Integrated Transport (PID)'s Readable Prague project will light up entrances to the subway or in the vicinity of train stations, PID tweeted. To pilot test the project, the first sign that went luminous yesterday was the one marking the entrance to the metro at Palackého náměstí.

Prague exhibitions|The National Gallery in Prague (NGP) will stage major exhibitions of Czech painters Josef Mánes (1820–71) and Petr Brandl (1668–1735) in 2023, for the first time in 50 years. Further planned projects are the temporary exhibition "Watercolor between Prague and Vienna," and a new permanent exhibition, "1939–2021: End of the Black-and-White Period." Read more in our story.

Palach remembered|Student protester Jan Palach died on Jan. 19, 1969, three days after he set himself on fire on Prague’s Wenceslas Square. While most accounts say the act was in protest of the August 1968 Soviet-led Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia, Palach intended to draw attention to the complacency that followed. Read more in our story.