Czech news in brief for August 19: Wednesday's top afternoon headlines

Czechia posted the second-lowest inflation rate in the EU in July, a rare bright spot as Middle East-driven price pressure pushes the bloc's average higher. Meanwhile, Prague finally has a site for its long-promised new hospital, and a Plzeň court delivered a ruling that will resonate with Ukrainians across the country.

Chamber of Deputies Speaker Tomio Okamura publicly blasted Czech Railways CEO Michal Krapinec over missing toilet paper on trains, saying constituents on the Prague–Ostrava route have complained repeatedly and suggesting Krapinec's job could be on the line. Czech Railways pushed back, saying it hasn't seen a rise in hygiene complaints and that service quality has improved since 2022.

Backdrop. The spat lands amid friction between Krapinec and the Transport Ministry after he returned his security clearance, a move the minister called "non-standard."

Apple has issued emergency spyware warnings to iPhone users in 110 countries, including the Czech Republic, flagging targeted attacks using advanced commercial spyware similar to NSO Group's Pegasus. The alerts now appear as system notifications and are reserved for specific individuals Apple has assessed as likely targets (historically journalists, activists, politicians and diplomats) rather than sent broadly.

If you get the warning: Don't factory reset the phone, since that can destroy evidence. Screenshot the notification, enable Lockdown Mode, update all software, and contact your employer's security team if you use the device for work.

Czech annual inflation rose to 1.3 percent in July from 1.1 percent in June under Eurostat's harmonized measure, but that's still well below the EU average of three percent and second only to Sweden's 0.3 percent. The EU and eurozone rates both climbed for a fourth straight month, driven by fuel costs tied to the Middle East conflict.

Measuring stick: Eurostat's harmonized number differs from the Czech Statistical Office's own figure, which put July inflation at 1.7 percent. Either way, the trend is the same: Czechia remains one of the cheapest places in the bloc to watch prices rise.

PM Andrej Babiš and Health Minister Adam Vojtěch confirmed Prague's new hospital will be built on the Kralovské Vinohrady University Hospital campus, beating out sites near Letňany and Bulovka. The government is expected to finalize the decision by Christmas, with the facility projected to hold 800 to 1,300 beds and possibly be classified as a military site to count toward NATO defense spending.

Military angle: The land transfer to the Defense Ministry, due by the end of August, would let construction costs be reported as defense expenditure; a workaround that's raised eyebrows given the hospital will serve ordinary civilian patients.

The Plzeň Regional Court rejected a Ukrainian man's appeal against the Interior Ministry's refusal to grant him international protection, ruling that fear of war or conscription alone doesn't qualify. The man, housed in a refugee facility near Plzeň, argued he'd face harm and possible conscription if returned, and cited moral objections to combat, but the court found he'd only raised that objection late and had previously served in the Ukrainian military.

Wider pattern: The ruling follows several similar Plzeň court decisions last week upholding Interior Ministry denials, as the EU's tightened August 5 rules now require new temporary protection applicants to prove they've completed or been exempted from military service.

Severe thunderstorms are forecast to sweep the Czech Republic starting Thursday night, with the Karlovy Vary, Ústí nad Labem and Liberec regions first in line before storms shift to the southeast on Friday.

What to expect: Meteorologists warn of wind gusts up to 70 km/h, hail around 2 cm, and rainfall totals near 30 mm, with the unsettled weather likely continuing into Saturday.