Czech news for April 3: Czechia lights up in blue to raise autism awareness

An investigation by Seznam Zprávy has found that several universities in Czechia are handling cases of alleged sexual harassment by members of staff.

Charles University, for example, had 36 reported incidents of inappropriate sexual behavior in 2022 – the highest of any university. Three staff members were consequently dismissed from Charles Univeristy. Masaryk University in Brno had eight reports between July 2022 and March 2023. A national School Ombudsman Platform is planned to be created this June to help deal with the issue.

Czech Minister of Defense Jana Černochová said Sunday that Czechia still has the means and resources to send military equipment to Ukraine.

This is in response to President Petr Pavel’s statement last week that the Czech Republic did not have many other possibilities of sending military aid to the war-stricken country. Pavel and Černochová will meet with Czech Chief of Staff Karel Řehka to discuss the topic. 

The race for the Czech First League title continues to be tight, with victories for both Sparta Prague and Slavia Prague over the weekend. Sparta beat Brno 3:1, with Slavia claiming an easy victory over sixth-placed Sigma (4:0). Barely anything separates the top two, with both teams tied on 57 points.

Just five matches remain in the season – both Prague teams will face each other in mid-April. Sparta head coach Brian Priske said that it would be “arrogant” to say that there is a two-horse race for the title, with Viktoria Plzeň seven points behind.

To mark World Autism Awareness Day on April 2, some buildings across Czechia shone in blue, such as the Czech Chamber of Deputies and two nuclear power plants. This is part of the "Czechia Shines Blue" campaign that has been organized by the Czech Hope for Autism platform since 2014.

The motto of this year’s event was “Knowledge, Understanding, Acceptance.” More than 200,000 people with an autism-related disorder are estimated to live in Czechia today.

Czech tennis star Petra Kvitová defeated reigning Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina 7-6, 6-2 to win the Miami Open on Saturday evening. The victory gives Kvitová her first title of the season, 30th career title, and ninth career title at a WTA 1000 tournament.

The win is Kvitová's second this year over Rybakina, ten years her junior, following a victory in January at the Adelaide International. The Czech star will return to the top ten in WTA rankings next week, and strengthen her position as the top-ranked Czech over Barbora Krejčíková (currently number 13).

Czech hockey player David Pastrňák scored a hat trick in the Boston Bruins 4-3 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday, helping Boston add another win to their NHL-best 59-12 record this season. The three goals gives Pastrňák 102 total points (goals plus assists) on the season with two more weeks to go in the season.

Pastrňák is now tied for fourth overall in points for the 2022-23 NHL season, and he has become just the second Czech player to top 100 points in a season after Jaromir Jágr. Jágr scored more than 100 points five times in his illustrious career, while Pastrňák came closest five years ago with 95 points. Petr Nedvěd (99 points) and Milan Hejduk (98 points) also came close among Czech players.

The Wallenstein Garden within the premises of the Czech Senate has reopened to the public after a winter break this weekend. Visitors can walk through the garden until the end of October on weekdays from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. and on weekends from 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. The garden is accessible for free and also hosts summer concerts.

Wallenstein Garden covers an area of 14,000 square meters and is the second-largest in central Prague after the nearby gardens at Prague Castle. It was built in 1634 in the Mannerist style by Albrecht of Wallenstein and features a set of nine bronze sculptures and a unique hall decorated with frescoes by Italian painter Baccio del Bianco.

A small tornado was recorded in the vicinity of Letovice, in the Blansko district of South Moravia, on Friday evening, the Czech Hydrometeorological Institute has confirmed. The Czech Thunderstorm Research Association has also verified that the tornado had touched the ground.

Fortunately, no damage has been reported, according to Letovice Mayor Petr Novotny. However, firefighters were seen clearing trees that had fallen across the road in three different locations of the district. News server iDnes.cz posted video of another tornado spotted in the Prostějov area of South Moravia on Friday, which also did not result in any reported harm.

Thousands of volunteers across the country will help clean up parks, rivers, roads, protected areas, and other locations during the 10th annual Ukliďme Česko (Clean Up the Czech Republic) initiative this weekend. Zoos in Brno and Plzeň will be cleaned up as part of the initiative today, with additional clean-up events taking place throughout the spring.

Taking place annually since 2014, Clean Up the Czech Republic will welcome its millionth volunteer this year, and a record number of volunteers have registered to help clean up more than 4,000 locations across the country this spring. A full list of locations, and details about how you can participate, can be found at the Clean Up the Czech Republic website.

Czech tennis star Petra Kvitová will head to the final at the Miami Open for the first time in her career after defeating Romania's Sorana Cîrstea 7-5, 6-4 yesterday. Kvitová was down 2-5 in the first set, but won five consecutive games to pull off the impressive come-from-behind victory.

Kvitová, who won titles at Wimbledon in 2011 and 2014, will match up against the reigning Wimbledon champion, Kazakhstan's Elena Rybakina, at 9:00 p.m. Prague time tonight. Rybakina is attempting to win the Sunshine Double, back-to-back titles at the Indian Wells Masters in California and the Miami Open in Florida; she defeated Aryna Sabalenka to win the Indian Wells tournament two weeks ago.

A special space dedicated to acclaimed Czech writer Milan Kundera opens today in his hometown at the Moravian State Library in Brno. The Milan Kundera Library contains several thousand books from Kundera's personal archive, which have been donated to the library by the writer and his wife.

Kundera has lived in France for nearly 50 years. "For us, the library has not only material value, but above all a symbolic one," Tomáš Kubíček told journalists last year. "As Věra Kunderová often points out, in this way Milan Kundera is returning to Brno, where he was born and where he was happy."

A beaver was spotted at Florenc Bus Station on Friday morning, according to Prague's Police Department, which shared photos of the creature on social media. Police safely collected the beaver at the bus station and returned him to the Vltava river.

While beavers are native to the Czech Republic, sightings in Prague are rare. Nutria, a similar species, are far more common and can be often spotted along Prague's waterways; beavers can be told apart by their large, flat tail. Where the beaver was attempting to travel by bus is not known.