News in brief for July 14: Top headlines for Czechia on Friday

The Czech Hydrometeorological Institute (ČHMÚ) issued a warning for very high temperatures in Bohemia and the south of Moravia on Saturday, where daily temperatures can reach up to 38 degrees Celsius. The warning has been extended to include eastern regions of Bohemia and will be valid from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. in several areas. It will also apply in Moravia and Silesia on Sunday.

Meteorologists from ČHMÚ also flagged low ozone levels and recommend limiting direct sunlight exposure on Sunday between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m., when the maximum UV index is expected to be around 8.5 and slightly higher in mountainous and southern regions of the Czech Republic.

Czech musicians were part of an international orchestra that played in a Bastille Day parade snaking through Paris today. French daily Le Monde writes that the orchestra comprised 80 musicians from European countries as well as the U.S., UK, and Canada, which are the defense partners of France.

Vlastimila Cyprisová from the press department of the Czech General Staff told ČTK that the musicians were from the Central Band of the Army of the Czech Republic. The traditional military parade in Paris was part of the celebrations of the French national holiday, which commemorates the capture of the Bastille fortress on July 14, 1789, and the start of the Great French Revolution.

Train operations, including international connections near Prague, are experiencing difficulties this morning due to a traction line failure. Some trains are not running anymore between Prague and Kralupy nad Vltavou, while others are experiencing delays. České dráhy (ČD) and Prague Integrated Transport (PID) have provided information about the situation on their websites.

The failure happened on Thursday evening in the section between Libčice nad Vltavou and Roztoky u Prahy. ČD expects the repairs to be completed by early evening today, but the exact restoration time will depend on their progress. Long-distance trains are currently experiencing delays of up to 20 minutes. 

Two Czech women died in a tragic accident that happened while crossing the street near a hotel in the Turkish city of Manavgat, according to local news sources. One woman was fatally hit by a minibus, while the other was dragged for a distance before the same vehicle stopped. CCTV footage showed other people present at the scene jumping out of the vehicle's way.

Local news sources alleged that the crossing was poorly lit, the traffic lights were not working, and the driver was allegedly going too fast. The local police have detained the minibus driver and are conducting an investigation. The bodies of the women have been taken for autopsy.

The Czech Senate has approved the Czech-American defense cooperation agreement with a majority vote of 66 out of 72 senators present. The agreement, which has already been approved by the Czech government, covers various areas related to the potential presence of U.S. troops in the Czech Republic and cooperation between the U.S. and Czech armed forces.

The Chamber of Deputies is set to make its decision on the agreement on July 19. Critics of the agreement claim that it grants U.S. soldiers the right to stay on Czech territory, but Defense Minister Jana Černochová emphasized that this is not the case.

Year-on-year inflation in the Czech Republic has dropped below 10 percent for the first time since January, reaching 9.7 percent in June, the lowest since December 2021. This decline is expected to continue in the third quarter. The decrease in inflation aligns with financial market expectations and falls below the May forecast by the Czech National Bank (CNB). The slowdown is evident in various consumer categories, including food, household energy, fuel, and core inflation items like home furnishings, clothing, catering, and recreation.

The drop in inflation is primarily driven by lower housing costs and slower food price growth. This decline may influence the CNB's monetary policy decisions, potentially leading to interest rate reductions later this year. According to analysts, despite the decline, the Czech Republic has the ninth-highest inflation of the 41 monitored European countries.

Czech Radio (CRo) showcased a two-minute demonstration of late singer Karel Gott's voice generated by artificial intelligence (AI) during a live broadcast. The AI-generated voice, released on the eve of what would have been Gott's 84th birthday will be featured in the audio version of Gott's autobiography, My Journey to Happiness.

The reading of the audiobook, part of the Gott navždy (Gott Forever) project, will be broadcast on CRo Dvojka with 49 episodes. A total of 73 parts will be released in an unabridged audiobook in the fall. The project, developed by the University of West Bohemia's Department of Cybernetics, has received mixed reactions, with some expressing enthusiasm and others voicing ethical concerns.

The Czech government has approved the standardization of chargers, with connectors set to be unified to USB Type-C, Environment Minister Petr Hladík announced on Twitter. This move will eliminate the need to provide a separate charging device when purchasing a new phone.

The regulation is expected to take effect from December 2024 for most devices, while laptops will follow from April 2026. The decision aims to streamline charging practices and promote convenience for consumers, ensuring compatibility and reducing electronic waste associated with obsolete chargers.

Czechia recorded the largest forest area burned in the past decade last year, with 2,473 forest fires recorded across 1,715 hectares in 2022. Human negligence was responsible for 82 percent of the fires, with 1,275 of them caused by human intervention. The fire in the Czech Switzerland National Park, which occurred on July 24 last year and destroyed 1,060 hectares, accounted for the largest share of the affected area.

Forest fires constituted 12 percent of all fires in the country in 2022, and their proportion has been increasing in recent years. The Forestry and Hunting Research Institute highlighted these findings in a press release.