Czech news in brief for June 10: Wednesday's top morning headlines

Today marks the anniversary of the Lidice tragedy. You can read more about the Czech city's international legacy. Legislation is moving forward in the ongoing Czech public media funding debate and we're looking at the angles the morning. If you're a World Cup fan we're working on a story that tells you where and when to catch the games (set your alarm early). But first, the dangers of vending machine synthetic drugs in the spotlight. Here's your morning mix.

The Czech government is preparing its most significant tightening of drug policy in decades. From January to May this year, 161 cases of synthetic cannabinoid intoxication were recorded nationally; 119 of them involved children and adolescents, and at least four people have died. The substances are being sold legally in vending machines in shopping centers and outside schools, packaged with labels reading "not intended for consumption" to circumvent regulation.

Prime Minister Babiš announced 18 measures across four laws on Monday, including banning CBD products, withdrawing kratom from unlicensed sale, reducing the legal THC threshold from 1 percent to 0.3 percent, and fast-tracking new substances onto the prohibited list.

Return to pre-1989 policing? The crackdown targets legal grey-area products, but critics warn that banning them without expanding treatment infrastructure simply pushes users toward harder, less regulated alternatives. ormer national drug coordinator Jindřich Vobořil called the package a return to pre-1989 thinking: Heavy on repression and less focused on prevention and treatment.

After weeks of political noise, the abolition of Czech television and radio license fees took a decisive step forward on Tuesday. A bill is now written, Culture Minister Oto Klempíř will submit it to the government Monday, and the cabinet will debate it the same day. What remains unknown is how much public media will actually receive from the state budget instead.

The Journalists' Syndicate called the government's approach "open contempt for practically all citizens." ČT says that an earlier draft of the bill would have led to 500 redundancies out of nearly 3,000 staff and significant program cancellations; employees are already on strike alert.

Is it about more than fees? PM Babiš says the goal is to stop charging people for a service they don't use. He noted 17 EU countries fund public media through non-fee mechanisms. The current system relies on fixed monthly fees that have not been increased for several years despite rising inflation and operational costs.

Today marks 84 years since the destruction of Lidice. On June 10, 1942, Wehrmacht and Gestapo units shot 173 men, deported the village's women to Ravensbrück, and sent most of its children to be murdered at the Chełmno extermination camp in Poland, then razed every building to the ground. The Nazi reprisal followed the assassination of Reich Protector Reinhard Heydrich, despite investigators finding no evidence connecting Lidice to the attack. Of 503 residents, 340 did not survive. Commemoration events are being held at the site today.

Living legacy: The destruction of Lidice provoked an international response that outlasted the war. Communities in Mexico, Brazil, and the United States took the village's name in solidarity. In Britain, miners launched the "Lidice Shall Live" movement and raised funds for its reconstruction.

Czech football fans face some antisocial kick-off times this summer: two of the national team's group stage matches start in the early hours of the morning. Bars and sports pubs across Prague, Brno and Olomouc are adjusting accordingly, with special overnight openings, breakfast menus and big screens. Prague's Meat Beer near the main train station and Guilty Pleasure Diner are both extending overnight hours; Brno's Hladinka a Šnyt opens at 3:30 a.m. for the South Korea match with a breakfast buffet.

Employers are worried: A global survey among 8,000 employees showed that the tournament could cost employers at least 17 billion dollars in lost productivity. Around 27 percent of those surveyed admitted they would arrive late, leave early, or miss work entirely, while another 11 percent stated they would turn up with a hangover.

Czech primary schools will no longer be required to teach English from first grade or a second foreign language from seventh grade, under changes announced by Education Minister Robert Plaga. Both mandates were introduced by his predecessor as part of a broader curriculum reform, and both ran into resistance from schools that said they simply didn't have enough qualified teachers to deliver them.

What this means: Schools must still offer a second foreign language, but students will be able to choose it or swap it for another subject. The wider curriculum reform has also been pushed back, primary schools now won't begin implementing the new framework until September 2028.

Vémola's lioness Authorities confiscated a lioness named Elsa from MMA fighter Karlos Vémola on Tuesday after he failed to prove her legal origin under CITES, the same reason his tigress Ramba was taken in 2023. She is now at Liberec Zoo in quarantine. Elsa's front claws have been completely removed, leaving her unable to socialize with other lions. Officials are now searching for a suitable international facility to care for her.

Napalm Girl in Prague The photographer behind the 1972 Napalm Girl, one of the most recognizable images in the history of photojournalism, is showing several dozen archival war photographs at the Ambit Gallery in Prague until July 11. Nick Ut, now in his seventies, presented the exhibition in person on Tuesday and pushed back on a 2025 documentary claiming the famous image wasn't his.

Prague embankments Petr Janda, the architect behind Prague's Náplavka revitalization is warning the city that piecemeal future changes to the embankments could violate copyright law; not his personal rights, he says, but the protected integrity of a unified public work that has won more than 20 international awards. The city says it isn't legally bound by the original design going forward.