Czech news in brief for June 23: Tuesday's top afternoon headlines

Police arrested a 55-year-old Czech man shortly before 2 p.m. in Prague's Strašnice district after the suspect had been spotted carrying a firearm near a school in Čelákovice, east of the capital, in the morning. Dozens of police officers were involved in the short but extensive manhunt spanning Prague, Central Bohemia and the Hradec Králové region. Investigators have yet to release more details about the case.

What we know so far. Police told reporters that the man was a teacher with ties to the vocational school in question. He's said to hold a weapons permit but does not have any legally registered weapon. Police patrols had also been deployed at this and several other schools in the area, and were mobilized to guard the ministries of the Interior and of Education as a preventive measure.

President Petr Pavel today filed a lawsuit in front of the Constitutional Court over the government's decision not to let him lead the Czech delegation to the upcoming NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey. Pavel had previously warned that he could take such a step, arguing the coalition's move violates the constitutionally-protected powers of the office of the president.

What did Babiš say? Prime Minister Andrej Babiš said he respected Pavel's decision but nevertheless described it as unfortunate. He claimed the government's move not to include Pavel in the delegation was mainly based on "practical" and "pragmatic" considerations.

Strict timeline. With the NATO summit just two weeks away, a spokesperson for the Constitutional Court said that given the urgency of the matter, a plenary session could decide on a priority hearing of the case as early as Wednesday.

Prime Minister Babiš is in Hungary today for a Visegrad Group summit hosted by recently elected Hungarian PM Péter Magyar, along with Polish and Slovak counterparts Donald Tusk and Robert Fico. Talks will focus on energy prices, the situation in Iran, the war in Ukraine and the EU's upcoming multi-annual budget, according to a government statement.

Unblocking the V4. The Visegrad Group - or V4 - has long suffered from internal disagreements and tensions, most recently between the governments in Poland and Hungary. The ousting of Viktor Orban - a close ally of both Babiš and Fico - after 16 years in power could create the conditions for new dynamics, experts believe, with today's summit seen as the first test for the grouping of Central European nations.

Award-winning American legend Dustin Hoffman, renowned French actress Juliette Binoche and acclaimed American cinematographer Robert Richardson will be awarded the Crystal Globe for Outstanding Artistic Contribution to World Cinema at this year's Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (KVIFF), organizers said today.

KVIFF around the corner. Czechia's number one film festival will hold its 60th edition from July 3 to 11. American actor Jeffrey Wright - known among others for Westworld, American Fiction and several James Bond films - will receive the President's Award of this year's festival.

The Czech translation of Milan Kundera's last-remaining novel not to be accessible in his native language has now been completed. The writer's first book published in French in 1995, Slowness (La Lenteur) has now been translated by Anna Karenina and is being published by the Brno-based Atlantis publishing house - decades after its original publication.

A significant milestone. Literary enthusiasts have described the event as a key milestone, finally making Kundera's whole oeuvre available in Czech - a mother tongue with which he's had a notoriously complex relationship throughout his life in France. It also comes just a few days after his and his wife Věra's ashes were laid to rest in Brno's Central Cemetary.