Czech morning news in brief: top headlines for July 8, 2021

The Henley Passport Index, which has compared the power of passports in more than 200 countries since 2006, has released its annual ranking. According to the index, Czech passports are among the world's most powerful. The Japanese passport currently ranks as the world's most powerful with access to 193 countries. Singapore came in second (192 destinations) while Germany and South Korea tied for third. Italy, Spain, Luxembourg, and Finland shared the fourth spot. The Czech Republic shared its eighth-place ranking with Norway, Greece, and Malta (186 destinations). The index rankings don't reflect the state of the coronavirus pandemic and associated travel restrictions.

Several hundred people gathered on Lesser Town Square near the Chamber of Deputies in downtown Prague Wednesday to protest against the anti-epidemic measures and related restrictions, such as the Covid passes. The rally was organized by the Free Bloc political group, among others. Public transport was temporarily halted in the area as people waved Czech flags reading "For Freedom of Free Movement" and "Stop Children's Vaccination." Police said on Twitter that one protester was detained for blocking traffic. A number of protesters gathered by the barriers outside the Chamber of Deputies seat and started deafening whistling and yelling. Later a crowd of several dozen people attacked the police during the protest. The Free Bloc (Volný blok) is led by unaffiliated MP Lubomír Volný. His surname, which means "free" in Czech, is used in the group's name; Volný was once again ejected from the Chamber yesterday for his refusal to leave the rostrum.

Prague is buzzing with news about the "The Grey Man" film shoot, Netflix's USD 200 million blockbuster starring Ryan Gosling. Explosions, shooting, and screeching brakes will sound in the Czech capital until July 20 as Prague stands in for "Another Central European city...as well as one Asian state and also Bangkok," according to Pavlína Žipková, head of the Czech Film Commission of the State Cinematography Fund. Local tabloid Blesk has captured footage of Gosling filming an action scene (and playing a mean air guitar) in front of Rudolfinum. Filming now moves to Mánesův and Čechův bridges, Dvořákovo and Alšovo nábřeží, Pařížská and 17. listopadu streets, and Náměstí Republiky. In addition to the action scenes, the nooks and crannies of Prague will also host a massive crowd scene celebrating the arrival of the new year in Bangkok. It will be filmed from July 13-14 at night with 800 extras.

The volume of new bank mortgage loans for housing reached CZK 30.9 billion in May, according to current statistics from the Czech National Bank and the Czech Banking Association. This is 6.6 percent more than in April and 109 percent more than in May 2020, making this month's figures the second strongest since 2014. Analysts say rising real state prices are behind the unusually high sales. According to CNB statistics, the APR index (average annual percentage rate of charge) for mortgage loans was 2.21 percent in May. Compared to April, it increased by 0.06 percentage points. The interest rate also rose, by 0.05 percentage points to 2.06 percent.

PM Andrej Babiš's ANO party would win the general election with 26.7 percent of the vote if it were to be held in the Czech Republic now, followed by the Pirates and Mayors and Independents (Pirates/STAN) alliance and the Together ODS-KDU-TOP 09 coalition, STEM polls for June indicate. The results suggest that ANO has replaced the Pirates/STAN coalition in the lead position. Support for ANO increased from 24 percent in April to 26.7 percent in the June data. Pirates/STAN saw their score drop by nearly four percentage points from 27.9 percent in April. Together improved its position from 16.6 percent in April to 17.4 in June. According to the poll, ANO would gain 27 percent, the Pirates would come in second (15.5 percent), followed by the SPD (11.1 percent), and the ODS (10.9). The STEM poll was conducted between June 21 and 29 on more than one thousand respondents.