Czech news in brief for July 9: Thursday's top afternoon headlines

About 300 firefighters have been mobilized in Zlín to try to extinguish a large fire that has been ravaging through a building in the former Baťa shoe factory complex. The structure, which is now rented as a warehouse for the local Vasky shoe company, has already collapsed in two places, but no one was reported injured.

What's burning? The management of Vasky, which just recently celebrated its tenth anniversary, said the warehouse contained about 75,000 pairs of shoes, clothing and accessories with a sales value of over CZK 150 million.

Czechia's unemployment rate stood at 4.8 percent in June, according to the latest data published today by the Labor Office, remaining unchanged compared to the previous month. Largely supported by the rise in seasonal work, the number of vacancies increased to nearly 100,000 while labor offices registered over 350,000 job seekers.

Offer and demand. Analysts have long pointed out a significant mismatch between job offers and job applicants in certain professions, including in administrative work or sales positions where there's a huge excess of applicants compared to available positions.

As the government today marks six months in office, opposition politicians have accused the ruling coalition of fostering chaos at the highest level of politics, of attacks against the country's institutions and of failing to fulfill their election promises.

What's the beef? The right-wing ODS party in particular criticized the lack of education and healthcare reforms, while STAN warned against the government's attacks on public media and state institutions.

Two semifinals, two Czechs: Karolina Muchová is facing Coco Gauff this afternoon and Linda Nosková prepares to take on Marta Kostyuk as the two Czech tennis players fight for a shot at the Wimbledon final. As we were writing this, Muchová had already won the first set but had conceded the second to Gauff. Nosková's game was just about to start.

An all-Czech final? For both of them, this is their first Wimbledon semifinal, and they still have an uphill battle to beat their respective opponents. But an all-Czech final would be a well-deserved testament to the quality of Czech women's tennis.

President Petr Pavel and his wife Eva were in Karlovy Vary to attend the screening of David Ondříček's cult 1996 film Šeptej (The Whisper), presented as part of this year's festival. Pavel is a frequent visitor of KVIFF, and is scheduled to meet with Czech filmmakers later on today.

In related news, few will be surprised to hear that the president is in good health and great shape, according to his latest medical report, shared to the public via social media.