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The eight Prague Pride festival of LGBT culture culminated on Saturday with a traditional parade through the city centre. An estimated 40,000 people took part in the procession, which set off from Wenceslas Square and ended at Prague’s Letná plain, where a concert is held.

The main focus of this year’s LGBT festival was on a bill, due to be debated in Parliament in the autumn, that would allow gays and lesbians to enter into regular marriages, which would give them the same rights as heterosexuals. At present they can only enter into so-called registered partnerships.

Sunday is expected to be mostly sunny with daytime highs ranging between 25 and 29 degrees Celsius.

Up to 100 tonnes of fish are estimated to have died in a pond in the Břeclav region in south Moravia due to a low level of water, which led to a low concentration of oxygen. The incident happened on Thursday, which was the hottest day so far this year.

Around two dozen fishermen are at the site removing the dead carp and silverfish from the water. According to the administrator of the fish pond, Oldřich Pecha, the losses are estimated at several million crowns.

The drown-out period of hot and dry weather in the Czech Republic is posing a serious danger to aquatic species. Water levels in rivers around the country have fallen and the situation is particularly acute in fish ponds, minor rivers and streams.

People have donated nearly four million crowns in support of the families of the Czech soldiers who were killed in a suicide attack in Afghanistan on Sunday.

The collection is organised by the Defence Ministry’s Military Solidarity Fund, which aims to help war veterans in unexpected life situations and support the relatives of deceased or injured soldiers.

The remains of the three Czech soldiers returned to the country on Wednesday. Sergeant Martin Marcin, Corporal Kamil Beneš and Corporal Patrik Štěpánek have been posthumously promoted to the rank of officer and will be buried with military honours.