Czech news in brief for September 8: Tuesday's top morning headlines

A massive overnight fire tore through a Lidl in Kladno, causing an estimated CZK 120 million in damage before firefighters brought it under control. Meanwhile, a toxic leak has been seeping into a Czech national park for years. Good morning, here's your headline mix.

A fire broke out shortly after midnight at the Lidl store on Americká Street in Kladno, with flames already shooting from the roof structure by the time the first units arrived. Eighteen fire units and two drones responded; firefighters had the blaze under control before 3 a.m. and lowered the alert from level three to level two by 5 a.m. No one was injured, though 53 people were evacuated from a nearby hostel and temporarily housed on evacuation buses before being allowed back.

The cause? Preliminary damage is estimated at CZK 120 million, and the cause remains under investigation. The building will be dismantled, and extinguishing work is expected to continue through the day.

Toxic phosgene gas is seeping into the soil near Prášily in the Klatovy region, at a former military site decommissioned in 1991, MP Filip Turek confirmed Monday evening, after initially misidentifying the substance as mustard gas. The Environment and Defense ministries hold a joint press conference Tuesday at 11 a.m. to lay out a cleanup timeline.

Who knew what: Ex-minister Petr Hladík says a 2023 cleanup was already ordered under his predecessor, but new material appears to have surfaced since.

Brussels has temporarily suspended a EUR 3.18 million tranche of EU rural development subsidies to PM Andrej Babiš's former holding, Agrofert, while it investigates a possible conflict of interest tied to Babiš's trust-fund transfer of his shares in February. Payments from the separate EU agricultural guarantee fund continue unaffected.

Opposition angle: Pirates and STAN leaders are using the freeze to argue Czech taxpayers could end up covering subsidies Brussels ultimately refuses to pay.

PM Andrej Babiš said Sunday's AfD landslide in Saxony-Anhalt (43.8 percent) has no bearing on Czechia, pinning Germany's far-right surge on ending nuclear power and Merkel-era migration policy.

Reading the split: Two more German state votes are two weeks out; Babiš is already signaling he'll read those results, not this one, as the real bellwether.

The direct D7 exit from Kladno/Slaný to Václav Havel Airport shuts Sept. 9–25 for interchange reconstruction; drivers must continue to the Praha centrum/Ruzyně/Terminal 3 exit and double back, or use the Tuchoměřice/Přední Kopanina access road instead. Police are boosting patrols and warning of longer lines, especially on connecting roads.

Plan ahead: If you're catching a flight during this window, budget extra time or take public transit; police say it'll be the least affected option.

Teens on a mission. Registration opened today for the second Zero-G mission, letting students aged 13–18 apply for a weightless parabolic flight next April. 861 applied for last year's slot; 26 will make the cut this time too.

Big numbers for the Bard. The Summer Shakespeare Festival wrapped up its 29th edition with roughly 94,000 visitors, six thousand more than last year, after expanding beyond Prague, Brno, Ostrava, and Bratislava into castle venues at Litomyšl and Hluboká nad Vltavou.

Grape stuff. A gardener harvested grapes from Prague Castle's south gardens, photographed for The Guardian's Photo of the Day. The 262 Hibernal vines are expected to yield over 500 kg, headed for the castle's official wine. This year's harvest started two weeks early thanks to the hot summer.