Morning headlines: Tropical weather to return to Czechia after Monday's cool-off

The non-profit organization ROSA opens a crisis center for women at risk of domestic violence in Prague 2. The line operates 24/7 on the telephone number 800 605 080, and calls to it are free.  It will now operate on 800 605 080 in all-day mode. There are ten beds in the accommodation facility, made available to the organization by the town hall of Prague 2. Women will be able to stay in the crisis apartment for up to seven days. According to ROSA head of crisis assistance, Branislava Marvánová Vargová, the time period is set by law. 

Strike alert in support of their pay rise demands has been declared by nine trade unions in the Czech public sector, including those of public administration, school, healthcare, and culture workers, and another four unions back the step, Pavel Bednář has told ČTK. They are not satisfied with the negotiations on the adjustment of earnings with the government. According to the Minister of Labor Marian Jurečka, the cabinet is ready to raise salaries this year. The head of the labor department considers the pressure of the unions to be incorrect when he continues to negotiate.

Mayors and Independents (STAN) deputy chairman Věslav Michalik died on Sunday at the age of 59, STAN leader Vít Rakušan writes on Twitter. "Věslav Michalik died, STAN deputy chairman, a wonderful mayor of Dolní Břežany and my good friend," Rakušan said, expressing condolences to his family and friends. Server Neovlivni.cz writes that Michalik suddenly died in the afternoon during a mountain trip.

Budweiser Budvar exported over 1.3 million hectoliters of beer last year, with exports rising by 11.3 percent year on year. It was a record growth, in terms of both volume and sales. In Germany, Budvar sold over 500,000 hectoliters for the first time in its history. Sales also grew in other key markets, such as the United Kingdom and Slovakia, reports ČTK.

Budvar exports to more than 70 countries, including Algeria, Cameroon, Ecuador, Chile, Iraq, Jordan, the Maldives, Peru, and the Philippines. The national brewery has recently exported to Cambodia and Uzbekistan, for example. Australia has long been the most remote market.

In 2021, 38% of small and medium-sized enterprises in Czechia encountered at least one type of cybercrime, which is higher than the EU average (28 percent). Czech companies are most concerned about hacking attacks (or attempts at them) on internet bank accounts, followed by phishing, account control, or attacks aimed at identity theft, as well as viruses, spyware, or malware other than ransomware. Nevertheless, the management of Czech organizations believes that their employees are well informed about cybercrime awareness, suggests a Eurobarometer survey. 

World-famous Czech tennis player Martina Navrátilová will speak at the 12th annual Pride Business Forum called WORK IT OUT on June 16. She will discuss the current hot topic of marriage for all couples as legislation is currently being debated by the Czech parliament. Among other speakers of the forum are Claudia Brind-Woody from the top management of IBM, the head of the National Theater Drama Daniel Špinar, and many others. The conference will take place at the Prague Marriott Hotel from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Thursday, June 16.

With a slight temperature cool-off, Monday will probably be the rainiest day of the week. According to meteorologists, it should rain in most parts of the Czech Republic today, and local showers or thunderstorms accompanied by a temporarily stronger wind will appear during the day. The next days should be mostly without precipitation, at most with occasional showers. Sunny days will return on Tuesday and gradually warm up. Temperatures are expected to reach the tropical thirties on Thursday and again on weekends, climbing up to 34 degrees Celsius.

Four member's of Prague Zoo's gorilla troop have moved into a new pavilion that will open to the public on September 28, the Zoo has announced on social media. Three adult females and young male Ajabu have moved to the new pavilion, while male chief Richard and his two older sons remain in the previous enclosure.

The Zoo's gorilla troop has been split up for breeding purposes; a new male and female will join the females and Ajabu in their enclosure in the future. Prague Zoo's new gorilla pavilion is the largest outdoor enclosure at the Zoo, encompassing 3,000 square meters. It was built for 262.3 million crowns, and is a safer location for the gorillas in case of floods.

After hitting a record high in March of this year following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Czech gasoline prices have reached a new high in the second week of June. The average cost of Natural 95 has risen to 47.31 crowns per liter, slightly higher than the March record, according to fuel price monitoring company CCS.

The increase comes despite a recent reduction in fuel taxes aimed at curbing the surging gasoline prices. From the beginning of June, excise taxes on both petrol and diesel were reduced by 1.50 crowns per liter for the next four months. Unlike Natural 95, diesel prices have dropped by three crowns per liter since their March record, and now sit at an average of 46.53 crowns per liter.

Book World Prague 2022 festival bestowed its annual Jiří Theiner Award to a delegation of Ukrainian writers represented by Yevhenyia Kononenko and Olesya Mamchych on Saturday. Belarusian author and Nobel Prize winner Sviatlana Alexievich was originally set to receive the award, but could not participate in this year's festival due to health reasons.

Alexievich decided to pass the award onto the Ukrainian delegation as "Ukraine is on the front line fighting against evil, and must know that its supporters side with it." The annual award is named after Jiří Theiner, a longtime advocate for freedom of speech. Until last year, it was awarded to those who helped spread and promote Czech literature.

Hundreds of children from around the Czech Republic took part in a ceremony to pay respects to child victims of the Lidice massacre at the site of the former village yesterday. This weekend marks 80 years since the village of Lidice was burned to the ground in retaliation for the assassination of top-ranking Nazi Reinhard Heydrich in Prague on June 10, 1942.

"We are the children who are singing for the Lidice children," Lidice Memorial deputy director Jana Chourová Plachá told CTK. Later in the evening, candles were lit throughout the former village at locations where the houses once stood and a 3D model depicting the village was presented.

A pilot has died and another person has sustained moderate injuries following the crash of a small plane in Moravia on Saturday. The crash occurred in a field near Bořitov in the South Moravian region of the country, representatives from Czech police and firefighter teams responding to the incident told local media.

"Unfortunately, we could not help [the deceased victim]" Michaela Bothová, a spokesperson for the Medical Rescue Service of the South Moravian Region, told reporters. "We took care of the patient who suffered moderate injuries. After providing treatment to him, we transported him by helicopter to the Brno Teaching Hospital."

A whopping 840 kilograms of cocaine with a street value of over two billion crowns was uncovered by supermarket employees in Jičín and Rychnov nad Kněžnou concealed in a shipment of bananas on Friday, reports Czech Police. According to Czech Television, the banana shipment came from Colombia. The amount of drugs seized in a single event is the largest in the history of the Czech Republic.

According to Jakub Frydrych from the Czech Republic's National Anti-Drug Center, bricks of cocaine of about 80 percent purity were uncovered in 36 boxes of bananas in Jičín and 60 boxes in Rychnov nad Kněžnou. The banana shipment originally made its way to Prague via Hamburg; police have checked the Prague distribution center as well as other locations goods from the same shipment were sent.

The Czech Republic's men's beach volleyball team of Ondřej Perušič and David Schweiner kicked off this year's World Cup in Rome with a 2-0 victory over Mozambique on Friday. The duo finished 17th in the 2019 World Cup in Hamburg, and recently won a silver at a top-ranked tournament in Ostrava in May.

The Czech women's team of Barbora Hermannová and Martina Williams took a loss to Austria on Friday. The Czech men will next match up against Norway on Saturday, while the women face second-seeded Brazil. This year's Beach Volleyball World Championships in Rome runs through next Sunday, June 19.

Victims of the 1942 Lidice massacre were remembered during a ceremony at the Gymnázium Kladno (The Grammar School of Kladno) on Friday. The village of Lidice was burned to the ground in retaliation for the assassination of top-ranking Nazi Reinhard Heydrich in Prague on June 10, 1942. Male residents of the village were executed, and woman and children were rounded up at the Grammar School in nearby Kladno before being sent to concentration camps.

Czech first lady Ivana Zemanová and Eduard Stehlík gave short speeches during the ceremony in Kladno yesterday. 96-year-old Jaroslava Skleničková, the last adult survivor of the Lidice massacre still living, could not attend the ceremony due to health reasons.

The Czech Republic did not record any new cases of monkeypox this week, the National Institute of Public Health stated in a press release on Friday. The total number of confirmed monkeypox cases in the Czech Republic remains at six, with all cases in Prague and traced to travelers returning from abroad.

Monkeypox is a rare viral disease similar to smallpox, but usually with milder symptoms. Close and extended contact with an infected person is necessary for transmission, according to experts. The disease was first registered in the Congo in the 1970s and it mostly occurs in Central and Western Africa.