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French authorities are still investigating presidential candidate and former prime minister Andrej Babiš on suspicion of money laundering and tax evasion, Czech daily Hospodářské noviny reported on Thursday. The National Financial Prosecutor's Office (PNF), the French body that deals with serious economic and financial crimes, is investigating the circumstances under which Mr Babiš acquired a villa in the south of France through a chain of offshore companies based in Monaco and the British Virgin Islands. Mr Babiš has repeatedly described the investigation as nonsense and says the transaction was legal.

Refugees from Ukraine will be able to extend their temporary protection visas in the Czech Republic by one more year, according to an amendment signed by President Miloš Zeman on Wednesday. The extension means that Ukrainian refugees will now have the right to stay in Czechia until the end of March 2024. The temporary protection visa gives refugees access to public health insurance, education, and the labour market.

Firefighters in Czechia responded to 20,790 fires last year, a roughly 30 percent increase on the year before. Forest fires and wildfires accounted for almost half of these and their overall number has increased significantly - while in 2021 there were 3,588 forest and wildfires, last year there were almost three times as many.

The head of the fire service, Vladimír Vlček, blamed the increase in the number of fires on climatic conditions, as the winter was dry followed by very warm weather in the summer months.

Czech interior minister Vít Rakušan has said that he will personally offer his condolences to the family of his Ukrainian counterpart, Denys Monastyrsky, who died in a helicopter crash in the town of Brovary near Kyiv on Wednesday.

Arriving at a cabinet meeting on Wednesday morning, Mr Rakušan said that the accident was a very personal matter for him, as he hadn't only had a business relationship with the Ukrainian minister but also a personal one. Prime minister Petr Fiala and foreign minister Jan Lipavský have also expressed their condolences to the families of Mr Monastyrsky and other victims of the crash on social media.

According to the Ukrainian authorities, 18 people died in the accident, including three children. Mr Monastyrsky is the highest profile Ukrainian casualty since the war in Ukraine began, says the BBC.

It is not yet clear what caused the helicopter to crash. Russia has not commented on the accident and Ukrainian officials have not mentioned any Russian attacks in the area at the time of the tragedy, according to the Reuters news agency.