Czech news in brief for September 12: Saturday's top morning headlines

Donald Tusk has enlisted an unlikely ally against disinformation: beloved Czech cartoon character Krtek. Elsewhere, an ancient Prague manuscript is making a rare trip to Italy, thousands of potentially polluted sites await investigation, and Czechia has recorded its first tetanus case in four years. Good morning, here's your Saturday headline mix.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk gave Czech counterpart Andrej Babiš a Krtek plush toy at this week’s V4 summit in Bratislava, using the popular Czech cartoon character to emphasize Czech-Polish friendship following a suspected Russian disinformation campaign targeting relations between the countries.

Wider context: Fake profiles and documents falsely suggested Poland planned to seize the Czech part of the disputed Těšín region. Tusk paired Krtek with Polish cartoon dog Reksio as symbols of friendship between the neighboring countries.

The oldest manuscript held in Czech archives has left Czech territory for the first time since the 14th century. Prague’s sixth-century fragment of the Gospel of Mark has traveled to Aquileia, Italy, where it can be displayed for only six weeks due to its fragile condition.

Why it matters: The loan reunites three surviving parts of the manuscript in one place after seven centuries. Charles IV acquired the Prague fragment for St. Vitus Cathedral in 1354.

More than 7,000 potentially contaminated sites across Czechia still require investigation, according to the Environment Ministry’s Contaminated Sites Registry. A basic assessment of each location could cost around CZK 5 million, while further risk analyses may be needed where serious pollution is detected.

Key details: Authorities have confirmed contamination requiring remediation at 489 sites. A recent survey in Šumava National Park uncovered about 1,000 tons of contaminated soil and 200 barrels containing hazardous chemicals.

Czech doctors recorded a case of tetanus in August, the country’s first since 2022 and only the fifth in two decades, according to the National Institute of Public Health. The patient is a 48-year-old man from the Moravian-Silesian Region who had been treated for a head wound.

Health reminder: Tetanus does not spread between people but can enter through contaminated wounds. Childhood vaccination is mandatory in Czechia, while adults require regular booster shots.

Czechia’s last day above 30 degrees Celsius this year was Sept. 9, but meteorologists say another tropical day remains possible despite the current cooldown. The latest such day ever recorded in Czechia occurred on Oct. 4, 1929, when České Budějovice reached 30.3 degrees.

By the numbers: Strážnice recorded 54 tropical days this year, the highest annual total ever measured at any Czech station. Czechia averaged nearly 23 tropical days nationwide, the second-highest figure since 1961.