News | All stories

Wednesday is expected to be sunny to partly overcast with heat storms in the afternoon and evening. Daytime highs will range between 29 and 33 degrees Celsius.

Temperatures in some parts of the Czech Republic surpassed 20 degrees Celsius at night, making it the country’s first tropical night of the year. Several measuring stations, mainly in Central and Eastern Bohemia, recorded their warmest ever temperature for the night. The hottest place in the country was Jeseník, where night-time highs reached 21.9 degrees Celsius.

Turnover of the Czech Republic’s 100 largest companies last year for the first time exceeded three trillion crowns (around 118 billion euros), according to the Association Top 100. Meanwhile, their profits grew by 12.3 percent year-on-year to over 209 billion crowns.

Car maker Škoda Auto again won the annual contest for the best-rated 100 companies in the Czech Republic, which made both the highest sales and profits, followed by Daniel Křetínský’s energy holding EPH and the energy giant ČEZ.

More protests against Prime Minister Andrej Babiš are planned for outside Prague on Tuesday evening. The demonstrations will take place in Brno, Ostrava, Plzeň and other regional centres and towns. They are organised by the group Million Moments for Democracy, which last Tuesday drew an estimated 120,000 people to the capital’s Wenceslas Square.

Million Moments for Democracy say that by appointing Marie Benešová as minister of justice Mr. Babiš is seeking to influence a criminal case against him. They are demanding her removal and the safeguarding of an independent judiciary.

Another demonstration is planned for Prague’s Letná Plain on Sunday June 23.

The Czech Republic beat Montenegro 3:0 in Olomouc on Monday night in a qualification game for next year’s European Championships. Jakub Jankto and Patrik Schick found the net for the hosts, while the visitors’ Boris Kopitovič scored an own goal. That victory was the second in a few days for the Czechs and puts them in second place in their group, behind England.

The Czech Republic’s campaign to reach Euro 2020 continues in September, when they will take on Kosovo and Montenegro in two away games.

Police have warned Czech schools of a possible shooting attack after the sending of a threat of that nature via social media, the Czech News Agency reported. A police spokesperson said the warning concerned schools in more than one region but did not reveal more detailed information. A threat was also made against Charles University, which has almost 50,000 students, its rector said.

The police said they had taken appropriate measures but would not say what they were for tactical reasons. However, patrols have been stepped up at the institutions in question.

A former minister of justice, Robert Pelikán, says that Vratislav Mynář, the head of President Miloš Zeman’s office, tried to pressure him to intervene in a case involving Lesní správy Lány, which oversees forestry at the president’s residence. News site iRozhlas.cz reported on Monday that Mr. Mynář had repeatedly pushed Mr. Pelikán to file a complaint of violation of the law in the case. The former minister rejected this call.

Police have charged a subordinate of Mr. Mynář and another man over the case, which centres on a public contract worth CZK 100 million.

iRozhlas.cz also reported that President Zeman’s right hand man had also tried unsuccessfully to pressure a later justice minister. Mr. Mynář has refused to comment.

Czech tennis player Markéta Vondroušová has shot to 16 in the world rankings, her highest ever position. The 19-year-old climbed 22 places in the WTA rankings after losing to Ashleigh Barty of Australia in her first Grand Slam final at the Paris Open on Saturday.

The Czech Republic’s Karolína Plíšková remains number two in the world, while Petra Kvitova has climbed one spot to fifth.

The supreme state attorney, Pavel Zeman, says comments made by President Miloš Zeman at the weekend indirectly confirm that his removal is being considered. The head of state criticised the prosecutor’s stated intention of analyzing a preliminary European Council report suggesting that Prime Minister Andrej Babiš was in conflict of interest. Critics say that Mr. Babiš and President Zeman are in alliance.

Pavel Zeman told the Czech News Agency he would not respond to the president’s invective against him.

Mr. Babiš’s appointment as justice minister of Marie Benešová has led critics to suggest state prosecutors could be undermined. They are due to respond to a police call to charge the prime minister with the alleged abuse of EU subsidies. Ms. Benešová is also seen as being close to President Zeman.

Unemployment in the Czech Republic fell to 2.6 percent in May from 2.7 percent the previous month, according to official figures released on Monday. Some 200,675 people were out of work in May, the lowest number recorded since the same month in 1997.

Meanwhile, the number of vacant positions grew to almost 347,000, the Office of Labour said.

Analysts said that unemployment was close to the lowest level it could reach, with the number set to grow slightly in the summer because of new graduates.