Czech news in brief for June 11: Thursday's top afternoon headlines

Good afternoon, cloudy weather is here to stay for a few more days, with the latest forecasts expecting slightly higher temperatures over a stubbornly rainy weekend. Now, let's unpack the main news driving the day.

American rapper and music producer Kanye West, who now goes by Ye, will in the end not perform at the Chuchle racecourse in Prague 5 on July 25 as originally planned, the director of the venue Zuzana Rambová announced today. She did not provide any reasons for the cancellations, but the planned concert had sparked controversy due to West's notorious past anti-Semitic and racist statements.

Hard pass. Prague isn't the first city to shy away from hosting West. Concerts and appearances have been dropped in recent months in France, Poland, the UK and more, and some more tentative dates are still up in the air for concerts in Albania or Georgia, for instance. A planned Prague concert last year was also cancelled after public backlash and opposition from municipal authorities.

The Albert supermarket chain is about to become the first in the Czech Republic to launch artificial intelligence tools to recognize products at some of its self-service checkouts, the company announced. The technology is due to be deployed progressively in all its retail stores after successful testing last autumn.

Why exactly? Albert's AI tech is supposed to automatically recognize selected grocery items without barcodes, including fruits, vegetables and pastries. The stated goal is to save some time and reduce errors.

The Czech Ministry of Defense and General Staff of the Armed Forces have started to restrict the entry of cars made in China in sensitive military areas, according to findings by Seznam Zpravy. Threats of cyber-espionage from Beijing are the main reason behind a move that comes after previous warnings against the possible (mis)use of smart cars' technologies.

The red eye. Czechia's BiS counterintelligence agency has long warned that both Russian and Chinese espionage were the two main security threats. Earlier this year, a man suspected of working with Chinese intelligence was detained, becoming the first to be prosecuted under Czechia's new offense of unauthorized activity for a foreign power.

Damaged trolleys caused disruptions and delays to train traffic between Prague's Smichov station and main station earlier today, the Railway Administration announced. Trains leaving from the main train station were delayed by more than an hour this morning, with traffic eventually fully restored around 2.30 pm.

Finding the culprit. "Traffic at the main station is severely restricted due to damage to the traction line caused by the locomotive's pantograph," a spokeswoman said, referring to the metal joint connecting the train with the overhead lines.

Czech market leader in payment systems for gastronomy Dotykačka has revealed new insights into price changes, drinking trends and eating habits in Czech pubs and restaurants. Prices in the gastronomy sector increased by a staggering 56 percent between 2019 and 2026, higher than inflation in other sectors, according to its numbers.

Less beer. The data confirms the decline in beer consumption, with people now apparently favoring fewer, stronger and higher-quality beers. The study also points to the impact of weather on eating habits, with soup orders rising by an average of 11 percent whenever it rains for instance.