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Prime Minister Andrej Babiš has assessed the work of his cabinet after the first 100 days in office. At a press conference on Thursday, he said that the minority government of the ANO party and the Social Democrats has reached many achievements.

Among other things he mentioned the state budget for 2019 and the increase of pensions and salaries.

Social Democrat leader Jan Hamáček said that his party’s decision to join the government has proved to be the right one. He also said that the coalition agreement ended a nine-month period of instability following the parliamentary election.

The Czech President Miloš Zeman met with his Macedonian counterpart Gjorge Ivanov, who arrived in Prague on Thursday for an official visit of the Czech Republic. Among other things, the two heads of state discussed the possibility of bringing Macedonian workers to the Czech Republic to help solve the shortage of labour.

Mr. Zeman told journalists after the meeting that the Czech Republic fully supports Macedonia’s accession to the EU and NATO.

The Macedonian president is also set to meet with Prime Minister Andrej Babiš and other representatives of the Czech parliament.

Czech tennis player Kateřina Siniaková has advanced to the quarterfinals of the China Open in Beijing after defeating Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands 6-4, 6-3.

Her victory has also secured a place for her compatriot Petra Kvitová at the WTA finals. Siniaková will next face the winner of the match between Anett Kontaveit or WTA World No.2 Caroline Wozniacki.

The number of Czechs who travelled abroad during the summer increased by 25 percent compared to 2017, according to the data released by ERV travel insurer on Thursday.

The most popular destination of Czech travel agencies this year was Greece, followed by Turkey, which saw twice as many Czech tourists as last year. Croatia and Italy continue to be the most popular holiday destinations for Czech tourists travelling by car and bus.

Czech tourists spent on average 9.4 nights on their summer holidays last year, compared to 9.6 in 2017.

The annual festival of illustration LUSTR gets underway in Prague on Thursday. The seven-day event, which is now in its fifth year, includes exhibitions, workshops, lectures, films and discussions.

Visitors will have a chance to meet famous Czech and Slovak artists, as well as some guests from other countries, such as Mágoz from Spain, who has worked for the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal.

The event is organised by the bookseller PageFive in cooperation with Czech illustrators, a not-for-profit association which maps the current state of Czech and Slovak illustration.

Police and snake capture specialists are still searching for the pet green mamba that went missing on Wednesday in Prague’s district of Hlubočepy.

Police have evacuated the building where the snake escaped from. According to experts, the deadly reptile is most likely still somewhere in the building, seeking shelter in warm and humid conditions.

The mambas’ owner, who was bitten by the snake, remains in hospital in an induced coma, after being given anti-venom.

Friday is expected to be mostly sunny with daytime highs ranging between 16 and 20 degrees Celsius.

Petr Kellner, the owner of the investment group PPF, remains the richest Czech, according to an annual rich list published by Forbes on Thursday. The market value of his assets is estimated at 310 billion US dollars.

Second on the list is the Czech Prime Minister and ANO party leader Andrej Babiš, whose property is estimated at 75 billion crowns. Karel Komárek, owner of the KKCG financial group, placed third with assets worth 67 billion.

There are 11 newcomers among the country’s 80 richest Czechs and their overall wealth amounts to over 1.1 trillion crowns.

Foreign film productions spent five billion crowns in the Czech Republic last year, the Czech News Agency reported on Thursday, citing data from the Czech Cinematography Fund.

According to fund’s spokesman Jiří Vaněk, the figure could increase by up to two billion crowns a year, if the government increased incentives for foreign co-productions from the current 20 to 25 percent.

Among the international film productions currently underway in the Czech Republic is the second series of History Channel’s Knightfall. Another major project, an ABC crime series Whiskey Cavalier, is currently under preparation.

Czech tennis player Karolína Plíšková has advanced to the third round of the Beijing Open for the third consecutive year with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus.

The seventh-seeded Plíšková, who trailed 2-0 in the second set before winning four games in a row, will next play local wild-card entry Wang Qiang of China.