Forest fire blazing for second day at Bohemian Switzerland

Firefighters in Děčín are extinguishing a large forest fire in the Bohemian Switzerland National Park for the second day. On Sunday, they tried to bring the flames under control by dropping water from helicopters and airplanes. This method will continue to be used because the fire is burning in inaccessible and rocky terrain. Information from Monday morning indicates that the fire is no longer spreading, and dozens of firefighters have returned to the area. The wind has also turned, which is now carrying the smoke from the fire across Hřensko to the Elbe valley.

Tropical temperatures will be reached again today, but for the rest of the week a maximum of up to 30 degrees Celsius is expected. Tuesday will be rainy, and there is a threat of thunderstorms. In the next few days, there will be showers only in some places.

Preparations for the demolition of the former pig farm, which stood on the site of a Roma concentration camp during World War II, begin today in Lety u Písek. Demolition will last until the end of the year. A symbolic launch of demolition, attended by several dignitaries, took place July 22. The cost of demolition is now estimated at CZK 10.2 million. it was originally budgeted at CZK 110 million but will be much lower as some of the metal and other materials can be recovered and sold. A dignified memorial pavilion will be built to educate people about the Holocaust of the Roma and Sinti people.

The Czech Republic has officially requested the United States to launch negotiations for the Czech purchase of F-35 Lightning combat aircraft. On Friday, Prime Minister Petr Fiala and Defense Minister Jana Černochová sent letters to U.S. President Joe Biden and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. A date for a meeting should soon be set. Experts previously estimated the F-35 contract value at dozens of billions of crowns, so it would be probably the most expensive Czech military purchase in history.

Don't be alarmed to hear a message play out over Prague's emergency sirens tomorrow. At noon on Monday, July 25th, Prague will conduct a test of its emergency sirens in addition to the usual test of the sirens on the first Wednesday of the month, the city has announced via a press release.

The emergency test will be conducted to confirm transmission of verbal information via the sirens. Instead of an alarm, only a short voice message will be broadcast: "Raz, dva, tři, zkouška" ("one, two, three, test"). Since 2002, a regular test of the emergency sirens has been performed on the first Wednesday of every month.

An exhibition of Russian military equipment destroyed by Ukrainian forces during the current war will be extended through August 3rd due to high interest, the Ukrainian Embassy has announced on Twitter. Originally, the exhibition at Prague's Letná Plain was supposed to end on Sunday, July 24.

"Due to great public interest in the exhibition of Russian decommissioned equipment, in agreement with Prague 7 we have extended the exhibition on Letná plain until August 3," the embassy writes on Twitter. The exhibition includes a T-90 tank, Šturm anti-tank system, Buk anti-aircraft system, and some of the more than 3,000 rockets and missiles fired by the Russian army at Ukrainian cities.

Despite some afternoon thunderstorms, all-time high temperature records for July 23 were set at 26 measuring stations across the Czech Republic, reports the Czech Hydrometeorological Institute. The highest temperature was reported at the Strážnice measuring station in South Moravia, which recorded 36.3 degrees Celsius.

"Even stations measuring for over 140 years recorded record-high temperatures," the Institute pointed out, citing stations in Přerov and Opava, which reported record highs of just under 35 degrees Celsius. High temperatures are forecast across the Czech Republic through Tuesday, with a heat warning in effect on Monday from 11:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Czech Javelin thrower Jakub Vadlejch won bronze at the World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon on Saturday, picking up the first medal for the Czech Republic at the event. Vadlejch, who won a silver medal at the Summer Olympics in Tokyo last year, finished just four centimeters behind India's Niraj Chopra, last year's Olympic champion.

Grenada's Anderson Peters won the javelin event after topping the 90-meter mark on three throws, including a top throw of 90.54 meters. Vadlejch finished third with a top throw of 88.09 meters. Javelin thrower Vítězslav Veselý, who won bronze at the Tokyo Olympics, was unable to participate in the World Championships due to illness.

About 150 people took part in a 30-kilometer march from Pohořelice to Brno on Saturday to remember victims of the post-WWII deportation of German-speaking inhabitants of Brno, Petr Kalousek, director of the Meeting Brno festival that organizes the annual event, informed local media.

The march is held in the opposite direction of the "death march" that deported Germans from Brno in May, 1945. Hundreds of people died during the post-war march. Saturday's commemorative event started at a Pohořelice memorial to the victims, where about 300 people gathered. Roughly half of them set out for the 30-kilometer march to Brno, where they arrived in the evening.

The town of Žatec and its unique landscape of hops could soon be added to the UNESCO World Heritage List, Czech Ministry of Culture spokesperson Iva Awwadová has informed local media. The town was added to the Czech Republic's list of locations to be nominated for UNESCO World Heritage status in 2007 and will officially receive that nomination this year. The 2022 meeting for the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, however, was initially slated to be held in Moscow and is currently TBA due to the war in Ukraine.

Žatec and its surroundings have long been known for its production of Žatec hops (Saaz hops), which began in the 1300s and continues to this day. An estimated two-thirds of all Czech beer is brewed with Žatec hops. Last year, three Czech spa towns in the Karlovy Vary region were added to the UNESCO World Heritage List.

One of the oldest theaters in the Czech Republic will stage a rare show next weekend when the Palace Theatre at Castle Litomyšl puts on a performance of composer François Couperin's Ritratto dell'amore accompanied by professional dance troupe. The locale is one of two surviving 18th-century theaters in the Czech Republic (the other is in Český Krumlov) and only exceptionally stages live shows.

"Given the rarity of the interior, it's really more intended for guided tours. There's a maximum of one or two shows a year," caretaker Petr Weiss told local media. The performance will take place net Saturday, July 30, for a maximum of 80 guests. Tickets run 490 crowns, and include an exhibit of historical clothing in the castle courtyard.

Despite falling grain costs on the global market, the price of Czech baked goods is expected to rise, agricultural analyst Petr Havel tells ČTK. According to Havel, while the decline in grain prices on the global market should slow the rising rate of food costs, continued increases in other costs such as packaging and fertilizer means that consumers should not expect reduced bread prices.

Earlier this week, Czech Minister of Agriculture Zdeněk Nekula noted that grain prices had significantly dropped on global commodities markets over the past two months. "If energy prices do not rise significantly, the drop in the price of grain should soon have a positive impact on bread prices as well," he wrote on Twitter.

Austrian police have detained a 65-year-old man and accused him of smuggling one kilogram of methamphetamine from the Czech Republic to Austria, the Austrian daily Oberosterreichische Nachrichten reports. The drug has a street value of around 100,000 euros.

The Austrian man, who has a criminal record, is suspected of smuggling drugs from the Czech Republic to Austria since last summer. Austrian police uncovered the drug, called crystal meth in German-speaking areas, during a large-scale international investigation following his arrival in Austria.

A German tourist collapsed and suddenly died while riding an electric bike near Oldřichov, North Bohemia, on Friday afternoon, the Czech Mountain Rescue Service has told journalists. Despite efforts at resuscitation by his friends and emergency responders, the man could not be revived.

A group of German cyclists called rescue services through the 112 emergency line. "All information indicates cardiac arrest," Jiří Car from the Mountain Rescue Service told journalists, noting the hot weather conditions. "In this weather, his abilities could have been overestimated. They planned a long trip with a big ascent."