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The International Monetary Fund has revised its economic growth forecast for the Czech Republic in 2018 from a projected 2.6 percent in the fall of last year to 3.5 percent of the GDP. The country saw a 4.3 percent growth last year.

In 2019 the IMF predicts a further slowing of the economy to 3 percent growth. This year’s unemployment has been forecast at 3.0 percent up from 2.9 last year with an outlook for 3.2 percent in 2019.

Wednesday should see clear skies around the country with day temperatures between 18 and 22 degrees Celsius.

Preparations are underway for the return of the remains of Cardinal Josef Beran to his homeland this weekend. The Cardinal’s remains will be flown to the Czech Republic on Friday and will be buried in Prague’s St. Vitus Cathedral, the final resting place of kings and cardinals, the next day. This is in accordance with the cardinal’s last wishes.

Cardinal Josef Beran, a symbol of resistance to the communist regime, was exiled to Rome in 1965, where he died four years later. He was buried in the crypt of St Peter's Basilica in the Vatican because the communist authorities did not approve the return of his body to his homeland.

On Tuesday workers installed a new statue depicting the saints Vojtech, Radim and Radla inside St. Vitus Cathedral. The idea for such a statue to be placed in the cathedral emerged during the time when Cardinal Beran was was still Archbishop of Prague and Primate of Czechoslovakia.

The Czech group Media Invest, which is co-owned and run by billionaire Daniel Křetinský, is buying radio assets in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland and Romania from the French media group Lagardere.

In the Czech Republic they include Frekvence 1 and Evropa 2. Lagardere said the sales price of those radio assets was 73 million euros. The sale still has to be approved by the regulatory bodies in both countries.

Media Invest has so far focussed mainly on press assets, among them four dailies and over a dozen magazines.

After five years of growth Czech beer production last year dropped by 0.7 percent to 20.3 million hectolitres.

The drop was caused by lower demand on the domestic market which the Czech Association of Malt Houses and Beer Brewers ascribes to the smoking ban in pubs and restaurants that went into effect in May of 2017.

Czech beer consumption dropped by five litres per head to 138 litres per year. On the other hand beer exports were up by 4.5 percent.

The head of the General Inspectorate of the Security Forces, Michal Murín, has announced his resignation from the post at the end of April.

Mr. Murín, who has been under pressure from Prime Minister Andrej Babiš to resign, said that although he had done nothing illegal or unethical his continued presence at the head of the inspectorate would undoubtedly throw a negative light on its work.

Prime Minister Babiš has pushed for Murín’s resignation, saying he had lost faith in the official. Mr. Murín said earlier that the prime minister had told him that if he quit he would avoid being embroiled in a scandal.

Murín said on the inspectorate’s web page that he was leaving the force after 36 years of service and had always performed his duties to the best of his abilities.

The Toronto Maple Leafs earned their first win in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs on Monday night, defeating the Boston Bruins 4-2 to cut Boston’s series lead by one (2-1). Hockey forward Tomáš Plekanec, traded from Montreal earlier in 2018, got an assist.

The Bruins’ David Krejčí and David Pastrňák did not get points for the first time in the series.

In other action, San Jose declassed Anaheim by a score of 8-1. The fifth goal in the blowout was scored by Tomáš Hertl.

Representatives of the Social Democratic Party and ANO were tight-lipped after a meeting on Monday discussing the possibility of renewing talks on forming a minority government. Both sides agreed not to comment until the Social Democrats had had a chance to inform their top leadership of ANO's offer.

The Social Democrats were invited to the meeting after talks between the two parties initially collapsed more than 10 days ago. Social Democrat leader Jan Hamáček declined to describe even the atmosphere of the meeting on Monday saying he did not want to send any signal before he had discussed ANO's offer with his party leadership.

Deputy party leader Jiří Zimola had made clear ahead of time that he and his colleagues were attending to learn if ANO was offering anything new.

Initially, talks between ANO and the Social Democrats collapsed over who would head key government portfolios including the Interior Ministry. The Social Democrats had reportedly sought the post as a counterbalance of sorts to the fact that the prime minister Andrej Babiš is facing criminal charges of EU subsidy fraud.

The funeral for Czech-born director Miloš Forman was held in a private ceremony by his family in Warren, Connecticut on Sunday, his widow Martina wrote on Monday on facebook.

In her post, she thanked friends for their many well-wishes and said the ceremony had been according to her husband's wishes. The two-time Oscar winner died last Friday at the age of 86.

Forman is renowned for his early films such as Loves of a Blonde as well as later masterpieces such as One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and Amadeus.

EP Industries and internet shopping site Mall.cz, connected with Czech businessman Daniel Křetinský, will be the general partner of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (KVIFF) for 2018. The news was reported by IHNED.cz on Monday. According to reports, the firms will provide 15 million crowns each in funding annually. Neither firm has commented.

Earlier this year, energy giant ČEZ announced it was withdrawing as the festival’s main sponsor. The annual budget for the festival is around 135 million crowns.