Czech news in brief for August 23: Friday's top headlines

Karel Čadil, director of the Czech Police Bomb Disposal Service, announced that experts plan to detonate a World War II aerial bomb at the Zalužì chemical complex in the city of Most (Ústí nad Labem) on Wednesday afternoon next week, weather permitting. Work to manage the bomb will start at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, involving collaboration with firefighters and Orlen Unipetrol. The bomb, discovered during excavation, will be encased in 400 sandbags and detonated in place. Bomb squad technician Bohuslav Kuda explained the device contains a fragile celluloid disc that controls its timing mechanism.

The Czech Hydrometeorological Institute warns of high temperatures reaching up to 35 degrees Celsius across Czechia this weekend. On Saturday, most of the country will experience tropical temperatures, apart from the northern mountainous regions. Prague is set to see temperatures reaching up to 35 degrees Celsius. On Sunday, a colder front will lower temperatures to around 23 degrees Celsius, with showers and thunderstorms affecting the eastern regions, including Zlín and parts of South Moravian, Olomouc, and Moravian-Silesian regions. The Czech capital will see temperatures of up to 24 degrees Celsius with periodic rain.

According to Jan Doležal of the Agrarian Chamber of the Czech Republic, farmers harvested 6.75 million tons of cereals this year, marking the second-worst yield in the past 12 years. Rapeseed harvests totaled 950,000 tons, the lowest since 2003. Farmers will lose CZK 7 billion in revenue, with frost and storms this year causing CZK 650 million in damages. The Czech Statistical Office estimates a 9.5 percent drop in cereal yields and a 27-percent decline in rapeseed production.

According to Czech consul in Zambia Michal Novák, a Zimbabwean court has acquitted a Czech citizen who was detained for allegedly spreading false information about Zimbabwe. The court found that the Czech's actions did not constitute a crime and lacked intent to disrupt public order. The Czech was arrested on Aug. 1 in the city of Masvingo while filming a video about Zimbabwe's economic hardships and public-funds cuts. Local media had initially reported he faced up to 20 years in prison. The court deemed his video as a personal opinion from a tourist.

According to the Moody's rating agency, over 45,000 companies operate in the EU with ties to Russia, and 12,400 are registered in the Czech Republic – more than any other EU country. The European Commission requires banks and financial institutions to report Russian citizens' financial transactions as part of EU sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. The Czech Ministry of Industry and Trade says it is monitoring the situation and examining any investments that may pose a security risk.

Czech Interior Minister Vít Rakušan says he will draft a law by the end of October to compensate victims of the communist secret police's Asanace operation (a forceful project to make problematic citizens leave the country) in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The government agreed that a new law would be the best way to provide restitution for citizens forced to emigrate. The legislative council chairman, Michal Salomoun, and Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes director Ladislav Kudrna will work with Rakušan.

Finance Minister Zbyněk Stanjura announced that the state budget deficit for next year is expected to be at most CZK 231 billion, as per the Budgetary Responsibility and Budgetary Rules Act. This year's deficit of CZK 252 billion will be met, Stanjura says, and the windfall tax will remain a part of the budget income. The Ministry of Finance will submit a draft budget soon and the government must approve it by September. The windfall tax revenue for this year is expected to be around CZK 34 billion.

A newly released government report on digital addictions in the Czech Republic reveals that up to a quarter of 11-15-year-olds and 15 percent of teenagers spend more than four hours a day on computer games, while 30 percent of children and nearly half of all teenagers engage in risky (high-use) social media activity. On weekends, these activities are two to three times longer. According to Pavla Chomynová from the National Monitoring Center for Drugs and Addictions, up to 13 percent of kids and adolescents are “addicted” to gaming.

Official data shows that the number of Covid-19 patients is increasing nationwide. At the beginning of July, there were 21 positive cases per day, but in August this rose to 82, and this week it stands at 258. Over 60 patients are currently hospitalized, with four in intensive care. Doctor Ludmila Bezdíčková speaking to Czech news outlet Deník N believes that not everyone needs to be tested, except for high-risk patients who can receive antiviral drugs.