Czech news in brief for April 21: Tuesday's top afternoon headlines

Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš denied that he was planning to visit China any time soon, assuring that "it's not in the plans at all." Some Czech media outlets had previously suggested that the coalition refused to provide Senate leader Miloš Vystrčil (an opposition politician) with a government plane for his upcoming trip to Taiwan precisely because Babiš was planning his own visit to China.

The environmental non-profit Hnutí Duha-Friends of the Earth Czech Republic is demanding a public apology from Foreign Minister Petr Macinka and has threatened a lawsuit if the Motorist leader doesn't comply. A few weeks ago, Macinka - who temporarily led the Environment Ministry earlier this year - described the green group as a "terrorist organization" that should not be receiving any public funding.

The opposition Pirate Party wants to introduce a reduced, 6 percent value-added tax (VAT) rate on some goods it sees as essential and of significant social importance in order to mitigate the impact of inflation. Those products would include fruit, vegetables, rice, eggs, pasta, plant-based oils, baby food, sanitary pads, tampons and diapers. According to the proposal, the state would lose between CZK 6 billion and CZK 7.5 billion in revenues if the amendment was adopted.

According to the latest data from the international Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study, Czech children and teenagers are now sleeping an average of 7 hours and 57 minutes per night, 11 minutes less than in 2018 and a full 20 minutes less than in 2014. Experts are also warning that the quality of their sleep is deteriorating, and that the bigger length difference between weekday and weekend nights also takes its toll on their body.

A litter of four cubs of the rare and endangered aardwolf species was born at the Dvůr Králové Safari Park, an achievement that has been hailed as an incredible breeding and conservation success. Although often confused with hyenas, aardwolves are believed to be a highly solitary species, and in appearance are much smaller, have a striped mane and huge ears that set them apart.