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

Police are on alert this morning with reports that an armed individual is heading toward a school near Prague. We will be following this story closely. Until then, here are your morning headlines.

Czech police are responding to reports of an armed man heading towards a vocational school in Čelákovice, a town east of Prague, according to a post on the police X account this morning. An intervention unit is on the scene. The man is described as being in a poor mental state.

What police are saying: The suspect is believed to be driving a blue Škoda Fabia, registration 5AB 7197. Police are asking anyone who spots the vehicle to call 158 immediately and not to approach or interfere. A police spokesman told ČTK the specific school had not yet been confirmed.

Staff at Czech Television and Czech Radio staged a 24-hour warning strike on Monday in protest against a government proposal to transfer their funding to the state budget. Union representatives described the planned changes as "liquidating" and said further, more disruptive action was likely if the government did not withdraw both parliamentary and government proposals. Prime Minister Andrej Babiš met with union representatives on Monday evening.

What the strike looked like: ČT delayed its broadcasts by one minute and shortened teletext and social media output; ČRo gave airtime to striking colleagues and broadcast two-minute interruptions several times during the day, each followed by a minute of silence. Employees at both institutions arrived at work in black. Over 3,000 staff signed a joint statement by the Veřejnoprávně initiative.

The cabinet approved support for Czechia's entry into a European competition to host an AI gigafactory, a large-scale data centre requiring around CZK 100 billion in total investment. České Radiokomunikace would serve as the private operator and owner, with the facility planned for Zbraslav in Prague. The state's initial commitment is CZK 2.5 billion, to be matched by the EU. Results of the European selection are expected by end of 2026.

The European frame: The gigafactory is part of the EU's AI Continent framework. Up to seven consortia across the bloc will be selected to build the next generation of European AI infrastructure; the EuroHPC call is expected in July.

Wimbledon 2023 champion Markéta Vondroušová has been handed a four-year suspension after an independent tribunal found no compelling justification for her refusal to undergo an out-of-competition doping test at her Prague apartment last December. She is barred from all ITF, WTA, ATP and Grand Slam events until June 2030, and may appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Vondroušová's statement: In an Instagram post, the player said she has "never doped" and described the seven months since the incident as "filled with fear, helplessness, and exhaustion." She noted she was tested three days after the December refusal, with a negative result.

Penny Market has been fined CZK 5 million, the maximum penalty available to the Czech Trade Inspection Authority, for repeatedly miscalculating discounts across hundreds of products. Under rules in force since an amendment to the Consumer Protection Act, discounts must be calculated from the lowest price in the preceding 30 days, not from an inflated daily price. Inspectors conducted 47 checks and found more than 500 instances of incorrectly stated discounts. The chain has confirmed it will pay.

Why it matters to shoppers: The rule exists to stop retailers from briefly raising a price before advertising a steep "discount" from it. If a product was cheaper at any point in the previous 30 days, the percentage saving must be calculated from that lower price, not the pre-sale one.

In memory of Milada Czechia marked 76 years since Horákova execution. Politicians and civic figures gathered at Pankrác Prison on Sunday to lay wreaths at the memorial to Milada Horákova, the lawyer and MP hanged there on June 27, 1950, following a Communist show trial. She remains the only woman executed for political reasons in Czechia, and was fully rehabilitated only after 1989.

Stars at the spa The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival will announce today which stars have pledged to participate in its 60th anniversary outing, running July 3–11 and screening more than 130 films across its competition and non-competition sections. The festival's President's Award goes to Magda Vášáryová, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Jesse Eisenberg.

Czechs and books: Meh A new survey by Behavio finds that while 86 percent of Czechs consider reading a positive activity, nearly a third don't open a book, with lack of time and the pull of social networks and streaming cited as the main culprits. Neurologists say the stakes are higher than most people realize: regular reading throughout life may help build cognitive reserve, supporting the brain as it ages.