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Czech Army Chief of Staff Aleš Opata has said the country’s armed forces urgently need to make a series purchases, ranging from protective gear for soldiers in the field to helicopters and radar systems, the daily Právo reports.

Opata said these items include bulletproof vests and helmets, hand weapons, drones, NATO-calibre artillery, infantry fighting vehicles, three-dimensional Mobile Air Defence Radars, and multipurpose helicopters.

He was speaking at a military-command meeting with President Miloš Zeman and Prime Minister Andrej Babiš on Tuesday.

According to Právo, President Zeman expressed his support for increasing the number of Czech soldiers serving in Afghanistan under NATO and that they should engage in combat against terrorism.

Downward pressure on the Czech crown will likely continue for years to come due to gradual sell-offs by foreign investors who bought a large volume of the currency during the three-year period of intervention by the Czech National Bank to keep the domestic currency artificially weaker, analysts say.

The crown weakened to below 26 to the euro in mid-November, its lowest level been since June, when the central bank started began a series of interest rate hikes, of which there have been five in 2018.

Pressure on the crown is unlikely to ease for the rest of the year as Czech economic growth lagged behind its regional peers in the third quarter. It is also under pressure from seasonal euro buying by banks that cut crown deposits at the end of the year to reduce payments into the state-run "Resolution Fund".

However, while the crown’s expected weakness in the coming weeks would, technically, open room for a December rate increase some analysts say it now seems more likely policy makers will wait for the year-end effect to fizzle out before they act again.

Thursday should be partly cloudy throughout the country with occasional light rain, sleet or snow showers likely especially in the Vysočina and southern Moravian regions. Daytimes highs should range between 1 to 5 degrees Celsius.

Photographer Lukáš Zeman came first in the 2018 Czech Press Photo competition with a picture of an orangutan and its dying infant. The winning photo illustrates the destruction of nature in Borneo and breaks with a tradition of politically-themed pictures winning the annual contest.

The News section of Czech Press Photo was won by Michal Čížek with an image of ANO chief Andrej Babiš giving a kiss of gratitude to his PR chief Marek Prchal after elections in October 2017.

Junior coalition partners the Social Democrats are to decide on Wednesday whether to support the ANO-led government of Andrej Babiš in a no-confidence vote at the end of the week. Social Democrats’ chairman Jan Hamáček is in favour of remaining in government with ANO but has suggested Mr. Babiš could go as prime minister; he has been embroiled in scandal since his son said Mr. Babiš had wanted him to “disappear” during a criminal investigation.

The Prague branch of the Social Democrats on Tuesday called on the national party to push for the prime minister’s removal.

ANO’s leadership has given its backing to Mr. Babiš ahead of the opposition-tabled no-confidence vote. The Communists say they will continue to support the minority cabinet on key votes.

The Czech Republic’s richest man has Petr Kellner has bought a horse valued at around CZK 250,000,000, the news website iHned.cz reported on Tuesday. The mare named Catch Me if You Can will be ridden by Mr. Kellner’s daughter, Anna Kellnerová, who is a competitive showjumper. The purchase was announced on the Facebook page of the Czech Equestrian Team.

iHned.cz reported that Mr. Kellner had outbid Bill Gates, who had offered the equivalent of CZK 200,000,000 for the horse, which was previously ridden by Laura Klaphake.

The leaders of five opposition parties that have tabled a vote of no-confidence in Andrej Babiš’s government have appealed to Social Democrats’ chairman Jan Hamáček to rethink his party’s membership in the ANO-led coalition.

The leaders of five opposition parties that have tabled a vote of no-confidence in Andrej Babiš’s government have appealed to Social Democrats’ chairman Jan Hamáček to rethink his party’s membership in the ANO-led coalition.

The heads of the Civic Democrats, the Pirates, the Christian Democrats, the Mayors and Independents and TOP 09 made the call on Tuesday. Tomio Okamura of Freedom and Direct Democracy also backs a no-confidence vote tabled after a scandal sparked by statements from Mr. Babiš’s son.

The opposition leaders called on the prime minister to explain the circumstances surrounding a trip made by his son to Russia-occupied Ukrainian territory, which Pirates’ boss Ivan Bartoš described as a potential security risk.

The opposition also want President Miloš Zeman to drop his stated intention of asking Mr. Babiš to form a new government if his current one loses Friday’s no-confidence vote.

Andrej Babiš Jr. says he was taken to Crimea against his will at a time when his father was being investigated for wrongly acquiring EU grants.

The government will increase the Czech minimum wage by CZK 1,150 to CZK 13,350 a month from January, the minister of social affairs, Jana Maláčová, said. The Social Democrat minister said she would push to ensure that figure is close to CZK 16,000 by 2021, when the government’s term ends.

The ANO minister of finance, Alena Schillerová, said she abstained from a vote held during Tuesday morning’s cabinet meeting. She argued that the change would increase companies’ costs.

The average monthly salary in the Czech Republic in the middle of this year was CZK 31,851. Some 4 percent of the country’s workforce is on the minimum wage.

Wednesday should be overcast with some snow in the Czech Republic. Temperatures are expected to reach up to 2 degrees Celsius. Daytime highs will climb to about 4 or 5 degrees Celsius by the weekend.

Czech woman Elena Gorolová has been named on an annual BBC list of 100 inspirational and influential women. Ms. Gorolová is a Roma social worker based in Ostrava. The BBC highlighted her campaigns against forced sterilisation and work to return institutionalized children to their birth families.

The 49-year-old told Czech Radio that Czech doctors were no longer carrying out forced sterilisations and the focus of her work today was securing financial compensation for victims of the practice. She herself was sterilised without her knowledge.