Early bird: An auction of the world's most expensive musical instrument is being prepared. The army has new requirements, the budget needs to be increased.

Violin worth hundreds of millions for sale

The violin, made by the famous Antonio Stradivari in 1714, can become the most expensive musical instrument ever sold on Friday at Sotheby's auction house in New York. The auction house estimates the value of the "Joachim-Ma Stradivarius" at 12 to 18 million dollars (approx. 300 to 450 million crowns). If it sells at the upper end of this range, it could surpass the amount of 15.9 million dollars paid in 2011 for other Stradivariuses, "Lady Blunt", made in 1721 and marked by the Guinness Book of Records as the most expensive instrument ever sold at auction.

Stradivari made these violins during his "golden age", which began around 1700 and was characterized by an improvement in his craftsmanship, AP agency wrote.

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NATO has higher demands on the Czech Republic, stated Minister Černochová

New tasks for NATO member countries will be discussed at the NATO summit in The Hague in June. Representatives of the new US administration of President Donald Trump will participate in that meeting for the first time. The focus will be on increasing the defense budgets of member countries. The alliance will also have to get involved in a sustainable solution to the conflict in Ukraine.

"And the United States wants to help Europe in this regard, which I appreciate. And the fact that they will demand more contribution from us in return, that was to be expected and should not surprise anyone,"

said Defence Minister Jana Černochová (ODS), according to ČTK.

China is preparing retaliation for Trump's tariffs

On Tuesday, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce announced that it was imposing counter-tariffs on the USA for a range of products, as well as announcing further trade-related measures, including an investigation into Google. The government said it would impose a 15% tariff on coal and liquefied natural gas products, and a 10% tariff on oil, agricultural machinery, large-volume cars.

"The unilateral increase of tariffs by the USA seriously violates the rules of the World Trade Organization. Not only does it not help to solve its own problems, but it also damages normal economic and business cooperation between China and the USA," the Chinese statement says according to AP agency. The ten percent tariff, which President Donald Trump imposed on China, was supposed to come into effect on Tuesday, although Trump plans to negotiate with Chinese President Xi Jinping in the coming days.

Free beer for a football team's goal had unexpected consequences

The pub offered a half-liter for free every time Nottingham Forest scored, causing a worldwide response as the team won with an unusually high margin of 7:0. Beccy Webster, who runs the Gedling Inn inn in the county of Nottinghamshire, admitted that Nottingham Forest's Saturday victory over Brighton forced her to distribute almost 300 half-liter drinks worth up to 1 500 pounds (approx 45 000 CZK). A coincidence made her a media star in the UK.

For operational for BBC she noted that she was receiving reports from as far away as Australia, the United States, Brazil, and Poland, as well as numerous requests for media interviews. Although Webster is planning more events at the business, she is not sure about the free beer despite the great media interest.