Czech news in brief for April 24: Friday's top afternoon headlines

China has included several Czech companies on its export sanctions list, including arms manufacturers Excalibur and Omnipol and the Czech National Center for Aviation and Space VZLU Aerospace. Meaning that Chinese firms are not allowed to supply dual-use goods to those companies, the measure was mainly implemented in retaliation for their arms sales and secret deals with Taiwan, Beijing said.

The honorary president of the Motorist party and government representative for climate policy Filip Turek is facing calls to resign from opposition parties after describing some state and public officials as "parasites". Even Prime Minister Andrej Babiš (ANO) said Turek's remarks were "unacceptable" and that he will address the issue with the Motorist Party's leadership soon.

Czech real estate developer Odien just purchased the Štafileo Castle, a 16-century fortress located in the town Kaštel Štafilić by the Adriatic coast in Dalmatia, Croatia. The Czech developers intend to renovate the Renaissance-era fortress, originally built in 1508, and turn it into a luxury hotel and high-scale residence apartments while promising to "preserve it as a whole."

Czech tennis legend Martina Navrátilová took to X to criticize Donald Trump after the White House shared a picture of the president with male coaches overshadowing female tennis players. The women's tennis team of the Georgia State University had been invited to Washington to celebrate their victory in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) tournament.

The 20-year-old Czech pianist Jan Schulmeister has won the prestigious BBC music award in the Newcomer category. A passionate prodigy of Russian piano music and of composers such as Alexander Scriabin or Sergei Rachmaninoff, Schulmeister has been playing piano since the age of five. He was presented the coveted award at a ceremony at Kings Place in London earlier this week.