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Czech village of Poříčí u Litomyšle in East Bohemia has won the gold medal in the 2018 Entente Florale, a European contest recognising municipalities and villages in Europe for excellence in horticultural displays, the Czech News Agency reported on Tuesday.

The aim of the Entente Florale competition, established in 1975, is to promote the greening of towns and villages and their environmentally and ecologically sensitive development. The results of this year’s Entente Florale were announced at a special awards ceremony on Tullamore, Ireland, over the weekend.

Czechs spent on average 21,700 crowns on their summer holidays this year, suggests a survey carried out by the polling agency Nielsen Admosphere for ProfiCredit, a company providing financial and credit services. It is an increase of about 1,000 crowns compared to 2017.

According to the survey, the number of Czechs who can afford to go on summer holidays has also increased, thanks to increasing wages and record-low unemployment. In 2016, some 65 percent of Czechs went on holidays during the summer months, while this year, the figure increased to 70 percent.

Wednesday is expected to be mostly sunny with daytime highs ranging between 13 and 17 degrees Celsius.

Czech tennis player Petra Kvitová advanced to the third round of the women’s singles at the Wuhan Open in China on Tuesday after defeating Aleksandra Krunic of Serbia 6-3, 6-4.

The two-time Wuhan Open champion will take on the winner of the upcoming second-round match between No.12 seed Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia in the third round.

Czechs spend on average 719 crowns (around 28 euros) a year for books and audio-books, suggests a survey carried out by Kanzelsberger bookstore released on Tuesday.

The average price of books sold in the Czech Republic last year increased to 261 crowns, according to the data of the country’s booksellers’ and publishers’ association.

Some 15,500 titles were published in the Czech Republic in 2017 and overall, Czechs spent 7.8 billion crowns on books, which is around four percent more than in the previous year.

Czech director Irena Pavlásková has started filming an adaptation of The Prague Orgy by the late U.S. author Philip Roth. The book, based on Roth’s own experience, is set in the mid-1970s Czechoslovakia and follows the journey of his alter ego Nathan Zuckermann to Prague. The project, a Czech-Slovak-Canadian coproduction with an international cast, will be shot in English. Starring in the lead roles are Canadian actor Jonas Chernick and Russian actress Ksenia Rappaport. The premiere is scheduled to take place in the fall of 2019.

The Czech Republic has placed 30th on the Economic Freedom of the World Index published by the Canadian Fraser institute, up by seven spots compared to last year.

The index compares data from 162 countries, assessing a number of indicators, including the size of the public score, the quality of legislation, foreign trade and overall regulation. Monetary issues and inflation are also taken into consideration.

Hong Kong has traditionally placed top of the ladder, followed by Singapore and New Zealand.

The Agriculture Ministry and the State Veterinary Authority have said that in view of the spread of African swine fever they are considering setting down more stringent requirements for pork products imported to the country.

This would primarily concern imports from Poland and Belgium where the virus was detected.

The bulk of the country’s pork imports come from Germany, Spain, Poland and Belgium.

The Supreme Court has ruled that a court order allowing the police to tap journalist Janek Kroupa’s phone in connection with an investigation of a suspect purchase of hardware for the Czech military was illegal.

The court said such an order should only be made in exceptional cases in which the court would properly justify why it was violating the given journalist‘s right to privacy and right to protect his/her source.

Czech Radio‘s investigative journalist Janek Kroupa filed a complaint against the fact that his phone was tapped in 2012, saying that he had moreover not been informed about it afterwards.

According to Czech law the police have a duty to inform people that they had been tapped in connection with an investigation.

The coalition parties ANO and the Social Democrats agreed on Monday that the first three days of sick leave will be financially compensated as of July next year.

Under the present legislation, employees are not entitled to any wage compensation in the first three days of sick leave.

This practice, referred to as ‘karenční doba’ was introduced in 2008 by Mirek Topolánek’s government within broader measures to stabilise public funds.

The Social Democrats have been pushing to change the practice for years.