Early Bird: Slovakia is sounding the alarm. Prague will build a new footbridge. Paris Hilton got engaged

Slovakia is losing the battle against COVID-19

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The pandemic situation over at our eastern neighbours is becoming critical. Despite strict security measures, when most of the country is forbidden from moving from district to district and regular testing is mandatory, the number of infected people is rapidly growing. Slovakia mainly suffers from high mortality from COVID-19. The country has recently claimed a sad gold medal in covid-related deaths per million of inhabitants. The Czech Republic had previously also been at the top of this negative ranking. In addition to high mortality, Slovakia also has to deal with the deplorable situation of low-income residents who, due to quarantine or loss of employment, don't even have the finances for basic foodstuffs. President Zuzana Čaputová appealed to retail chains to provide food and drugstore goods to those in need. They responded to her call within a few hours and released 170 tons of food, from which, according to the Slovak president, more than 400,000 portions of meals can be prepared.

Slovakia it tightening security measures again since this morning. All citizens of neighbouring countries who aren't commuting to work or school and have not been vaccinated have to enter a 14-day quarantine. It can be shortened after eight days by means of a negative PCR test. Restriction of free movement remains in force practically 24 hours a day. Residents can leave their homes only to perform basic tasks.

A new bridge for pedestrians and cyclists will be built in Prague

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The footbridge, which will be 45 meters long and 4 meters wide, will be built directly above Bělehradská Street in Prague's Vinohrady. It will connect the Wenzigova and U Zvonařky streets. The construction could begin in the second half of next year and it should be completed by the end of 2023. The footbridge is to improve the connection between Nové Město and Vinohrady. It will connect to the signalised intersection of Wenzigova and Legerova. The final form of the footbridge has been selected from a dozen designs, assessed by the National Monuments Institute. It will fit architecturally into its surroundings; the architects are working on the design of stairs on its sides. The arches of the footbridge are designed from high-quality ultra-high-quality concrete (UHPC). The estimated price, including the repair of the adjacent staircase, is CZK 30 million excluding VAT.

"The footbridge will be accessible to everyone without distinction. Parents with trolleys and wheelchair users will get a whole new convenient opportunity to safely cross the busy Bělehradská street on their way through the city. When choosing the form of the footbridge, we made sure that it architecturally harmonized with the beautiful staircases and that its construction would interfere with them as little as possible, aesthetically complimenting them instead,"

said the deputy mayor of the capital city of Prague for transport Adam Scheinherr.

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Facebook has turned off media content in Australia

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Disputes between Facebook and the Australian government have escalated dramatically. The Australians woke up this morning to a day when they wouldn't find any news feeds on their Facebook walls. The technology giant has blocked all media content for Australians. It is a result of a protracted dispute over payments for content. Facebook is criticized by both the news companies and politicians as well as human rights defenders for having taken this step. There is no news at all to be found on the social network now, including those that can be very useful in critical moments. The world's largest internet search engine, Google, has a similar dispute with the Australian government. However, they have not yet resorted to a similarly vigorous "solution" to the conflict as Mark Zuckerberg's company.

Paris Hilton got engaged

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After a year-long relationship, the controversial blonde celebrity got engaged to businessman Carter Reum. The engagement took place during the celebrations of Paris Hilton's 40th birthday. Her fiancé is the same age as her. Paris enjoyed the greatest media attention between 2003 and 2007, when her reality show The Simple Life ran on television. In 2003, an erotic video with her ex-boyfriend, poker player Rick Salomon, leaked to the Internet. Paris can pride herself in having walked many shows for the world's most famous fashion brands, released a number of successful music singles and portrayed several roles in Hollywood movies.

"This past year with COVID has accelerated so many things. As someone who travelled constantly, I had a chance to stay home and reevaluate what was important to me. My relationship and the time I spent with Carter was a gift. I'm excited for our next chapter,"

the great-granddaughter of the founder of the Hilton hotel empire, Conrad Hilton, told the press.

Apple comes with new emojis for iOs 14.5

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The choice of emoji for the iPhone is going to be even greater than before. With the new iOs 14.5 software update, users will get another batch of interesting emoticons for their smart devices, greatly affected by the global pandemic situation. What can Apple users look forward to in the next update of the operating system? As per tradition, the developers worked with various skin colours and added all kinds of male and female emojis. It will now be possible to send even a face with the AirPods wireless headphones on. Faces covered with mask or vaccine syringes will probably see a lot of use. Apple complied with user requests and equipped the emojis of a male and female climber with a helmet. Romantics can look forward to two new hearts, one on fire and the other fixed with white tape. People are sure to like the exhaling emoji or the one with spiral eyes and a crooked mouth, too.

That's all from us this morning. We wish you to make the most of your Thursday, so you can go to bed with the feeling that this day was worth it. As the Roman philosopher Seneca said more than 2,000 years ago:

"We measure life by action, not by time."