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

Good afternoon, Czech politicians are still hobnobbing in Ankara, Turkey, with NATO allies and trying to get some face time with U.S. President Trump and other world leaders. In England, Czech female tennis players are shining bright on the Wimbledon grass, and Nosková (who's starting to play at the moment we're writing this) will give her all to join Muchová in the semifinals. Now, to the main headlines.

Foreign Minister Petr Macinka's announcement that Czechia could take part in the so-called PURL initiative to buy American-made weapons for Ukraine is ruffling a few feathers within the ruling coalition. Specifically, far-right SPD leader Tomio Okamura said his party "fundamentally disagrees with the Czech Republic's participation in the initiative," adding that he will bring up the issue at the next meeting of coalition partners.

In related news, a new STEM/MARK survey found that a majority of government voters, especially SPD supporters, oppose increasing defense spending. The poll comes a few days after Prime Minister Andrej Babiš vowed to raise defense expenditures to 2 percent of GDP next year, and in the middle of a NATO summit where Czechia continues to stand out as one of the most frugal spenders.

Almost 6,000 weapons were handed over to Czech law enforcement authorities over the first six months of the year as part of the latest guns amnesty, iRozhlas.cz reported. The amnesty, which allowed citizens to surrender or legalize unregistered weapons or guns they owned unlawfully with no risk of prosecution, was in place between January and June this year and implemented as part of a wide-ranging gun reform.

Not just guns. A total of 5,918 weapons were handed over to Czech police across Czechia, including the world's smallest firearm known as the Kolibri, as well as 213,000 rounds of ammunition and 64 kilograms of explosives.

It's a highly promising Wimbledon edition for Czech female tennis players. Karolína Muchová has reached her first-ever Wimbledon semifinal after defeating Naomi Osaka on Tuesday, making her only the fourth Czech woman to have reached singles semifinals of all four Grand Slam Tournaments in the Open Era. She will face Coco Gauff on Thursday for a shot at the final.

Meanwhile, 21-year-old Linda Nosková is facing the tournament's 25th seed Elise Mertens from Belgium this afternoon in the last quarterfinal to hopefully join compatriot Muchová in the next round. Could we be heading towards an all-Czech final?

The Chamber of Deputies today approved the bill increasing the parental benefits by CZK 50,000 to a total of CZK 400,000 starting next year. The new amount applies only to parents of children born from January 1, 2027, and is part of the government's self-declared aim to improve the financial situation of families and boost Czechia's falling birth rate.

How bad is it? Bad enough for demographers to ring the alarm bells: Czechia's birth rate today stands at about 1.37 child per woman, the lowest in history and way below the so-called reproduction rate of 2.1. In absolute numbers, less than 78,000 children were born in the country last year, compared to over 110,000 just five years ago.

For the fourth time, the Senate today rejected a bill trying to enshrine the right to pay in cash in the Czech Constitution and Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms. Supporters of the law highlighted the growing dangers posed by cyberattacks or internet frauds which, according to them, might lead people to want to resort to cash on a daily basis. Opponents, on the other hand, argued that the Constitution only protects fundamental rights and that the right to pay in cash doesn't fall in that category.

Similarly, lawmakers have in the past rejected other proposals trying to promote the right to be offline, for instance, or to constitutionally enshrine the Czech koruna's status as the country's national currency.