Czech news in brief for July 13: Monday's top afternoon headlines

Good afternoon, one could argue it's slightly embarrassing to get in a car accident when you're the leader of a political movement called the Motorists; even more so when the crash ends up with an ambulance thrown upside down on tram tracks on a busy street in Prague's city center in the middle of the day. That is, unless you're called Filip Turek, who once again today delivered a masterclass in common decency, empathy, and political accountability.

The honorary president of the Motorist party Filip Turek was involved in a car accident with an ambulance shortly after noon near the I.P. Pavlova station, Novinky.cz reported. According to early information, Turek's own black Mercedes collided with the ambulance, which reportedly had its emergency lights on and ended up overturned on the tram tracks. Its driver suffered moderate injuries in the crash, and there were no patients in the ambulance.

Mea culpa, Motorist style. "Only because I have a big car and he had a smaller one, the smaller car unfortunately overturned," Turek told reporters who came to the scene of the collision. "The man has a scraped hand, but he seemed to be okay," he said shortly before leaving the scene of the crash.

The government will not extend regulated caps on gasoline and diesel prices, which are now due to expire on Sunday, Finance Minister Alena Schillerová told journalists after Monday's cabinet meeting. She said the "extraordinary market situation" that justified the price caps in the first place had now passed, but assured that the Finance Ministry would continue monitoring how global energy markets reacted to the conflict in the Middle East.

News from Hormuz. The announcement comes just as traffic through the energy-crucial strait of Hormuz once again plummeted amid ongoing strikes exchanged between the US and Iran.

The ministries of Defense and Interior will work hand-in-hand to prepare what has been described as a significant legislative overhaul of the country's crisis response, Defense Minister Jaromír Zůna said today. The reform is meant to reform Czechia's outdated framework to respond to various crisis situations, and take into account the current security environment, evolving threats and new technological risks.

What to expect. The reform is still in the very early stages, with the final version expected to be drafted within the next 12 months, but is meant to improve the efficiency and coordination of state entities, logistics and industrial actors in various crises (conventional warfare, cyber-attacks, energy blackouts, etc.).

The Czech Hydrometeorological Institue (CHMU) has issued a severe thunderstorm warning for the entire country for most of Tuesday. Storms are expected to bring torrential rainfall, hail in some areas and wind gusts of up to 90 km/h, and could persist on Wednesday mainly in the eastern half of Czechia. Wildfire warnings are also in effect in South Moravia.

Back to the tropics. Above-average temperatures are once again expected throughout the week in most of the country except for the north-east, remaining above 25 degrees and even exceeding 30 degrees in the warmest areas.

Several Czech cinemas will show some of the best movies screened at this year's Karlovy Vary International Film Festival throughout the week. From Monday to Sunday, Šary Vary (or Echoes of KVIFF, in English) brings top Czech and international films to Prague's Světozor, Přítomnost and Aero cinemas, all in English-friendly formats.

What to watch. About 20 titles will reach Prague and Brno audiences this week, including Fatherland by Pawel Pawlikowski, All of a Sudden by Ryûsuke Hamaguchi, Bára Basiková by Helena Třeštíková, Chica Checa by Šimon Holý or Palme d'Or winner Fjord by Romanian director Cristian Mungiu. Check out the full program here.