News in brief for April 7: Czech women's hockey defeats Japan, pop star hailed as hero

The Prague metro will be closed between IP Pavlova and Vltavská stations on route C from April 7 to April 10 due to the replacement of wooden sleepers with concrete sleepers. The closure will affect the service from the start of the day until the end of the day on Monday.

The metro service on line A will also be closed between Strašnická and Náměstí Míru stations during the same period, for the renewal of security equipment. Passengers will have to use alternative bus or tram transport. The Prague transport company will continue to modernize the metro's security equipment and replace sleepers at other stations throughout the year.

A 23-year-old man attacked five adult women and two children in Dejvice, Prague on April 3. One of the injured women was the wife of Czech singer Michal Hrůza, who neutralized the attacker and waited with him for the police. The attacker punched victims in different places for no reason.

The police arrested him on the spot, and Hrůza found out that he was armed with four knives. The attacker was sent to a psychiatric hospital. The police are investigating the case for suspicion of committing crimes of disorderly conduct and bodily harm and are looking for witnesses, including a little girl who was attacked.

The Czech women's ice hockey team won their opening match at the World Championship, defeating Japan 2-1 in overtime. Daniela Pejšová and Kateřina Mrázová scored the winning goal after 63:16, securing a successful defense of their historic bronze medal. Blanka Škodová performed well in goal, making important saves throughout the game.

The Czech team dominated the second period, but failed to score. Japan scored in the third period, but the Czechs defended well and almost won in regulation time. The match ended with a hard-fought victory for the Czech Republic.

A survey conducted by the Center for Public Opinion Research of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic has found that the level of trust in the Czech government, Senate, and local government decreased in February and March compared to the turn of the year.

Only the level of trust in the House of Representatives remained at the same level as the previous survey. Mayors and municipal councils were the only constitutional institutions to receive a high level of trust from about two-thirds of the population. The survey was conducted from January 31 to March 20, and 861 residents over the age of 15 participated.

Czech President Petr Pavel will visit Brussels to meet NATO and EU representatives and see the seats of European institutions from April 20-21. Pavel has already visited Slovakia, Poland, and Germany since his inauguration about a month ago.

He also plans to visit Ukraine in April, attend a meeting of the Council of Europe in Reykjavik and visit Austria in May, and attend the NATO summit in Vilnius in June. Pavel will be accompanied by his wife Eva Pavlova, and the Presidential Office will publish the program of the trip next week.

Transport Minister Martin Kupka announced that the construction of 105 kilometers of highways and 18 kilometers of first-class roads is planned for this year. The planning includes the opening of 15.4 kilometers of newly built sections of highways, a number that will go up to 118 kilometers next year.

Director General of the Directorate of Roads and Highways Radek Mátl told journalists Thursday that construction works continued throughout winter on all major structures, which means that they are on schedule. Current priorities include bypasses that divert traffic from town and city centers, Mátl added.

The capital received a valid zoning decision for the transport terminal planned in the area of ​​Smíchovského nádraží in Prague 5, according to Zdeněk Hřib, First Deputy Mayor of Prague for ​​transport. This clears a major hurdle in the way of the project, which is scheduled to be completed in 2028 at the earliest.

The rail station in Smíchov will undergo a transformation to make it into a 21st-century transportation hub. The Smíchov Terminal will be near the planned Smíchov City project, which will create a new neighborhood on the site of the former Smíchov freight station. 

A recent survey by the Randstad staffing agency showed that 8 in 10 Czech companies are planning to raise salaries in the coming months, according to Seznam Zprávy. Over 200 directors of Czech companies said the planned increases will be around 5 to 10 percent.

Some companies have already announced employers about the increases. One of them is Škoda Auto, where salaries will be 10.1 percent higher starting in April. Another is the Hyundai plant in Nošovice, where basic wages will go up by an average of 11.7 percent starting in April, and by an additional 7.8 percent from next year. 

A Median survey for Radiožurnál found that 45 percent of Czechs believe that the benefits of artificial intelligence outweigh the risks. Those who view AI in a positive light tend to be younger and with higher education.

The study revealed that around 31 percent of respondents are worried that AI might take their jobs, while 62 percent of respondents are not worried about that possibility. Median agency director Přemysl Čech said that respondents were against the use of artificial intelligence in the military, an idea supported by only 24 percent of them.

The long Easter weekend will bring daily highs closer to seasonal averages, and up to 13 degrees Celsius on Monday, according to the Czech Hydrometeorological Institute.

From Friday to Sunday, the skies will be cloudy with occasional rain showers. The northeastern part of Czechia might also see snow. Daily lows will hover around the freezing point on Friday night. Saturday highs will be around 8 degrees Celsius, and on Saturday they will exceed 10 degrees in places. The weather will continue to warm up next week.