Czech news in brief for April 8: Wednesday's top afternoon headlines

The ANO party of Prime Minister Andrej Babiš is still leading comfortably in the polls with nearly 33 percent of voting intentions, according to a survey by the NMS agency for Novinky.cz. Far behind, the opposition ODS and STAN parties are fighting for second place with both coming in at less than 14 percent, ahead of the Pirates (8 percent) and the SPD (7.4 percent). Below the 5 percent threshold, the Motorists have seen their popularity fall in recent weeks.

Five museums across the Czech Republic will be accessible to the public for free every second Sunday of the month, the Culture Ministry announced today. Starting from this Sunday, April 12, the measure applies to the permanent exhibitions of the Prague National Museum, the Technical Museums of Prague and Brno, the Moravian Museum in Brno and the Silesian Museum in Opava.

Eclectic English electronic dance music legends The Prodigy will perform at Prague's O2 Arena on November 23, organizers announced, with tickets to be available on Ticketmaster and Ticketportal from this Friday. Formed in 1990, the band has already performed in the Czech Republic more than ten times, with their last appearance dating back to the Rock for People festival in Hradec Králové two years ago.

Today marks International Roma Day, with multiple events, happenings, concerts and exhibitions scheduled to celebrate Roma culture and identity. Roma flags have been raised by Czech universities and installed on trams across the country, and special guided tours are organized by the Museum of Roma Culture in Brno. The celebrations will culminate with a gala evening at Prague's Žofín Palace.

Czech tennis player Marie Bouzková will be present to defend her title at the Livesport Prague Open tournament, taking place on July 20-26 on Prague's Štvanice island, organizers revealed today, a move from last year's TK Sparta Praha area in Stromovka. "I'm really looking forward to the spectators in Prague," said 27-year-old Bouzková, currently ranked 24th in the world.