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Over 37 million crowns, or over 1.2 million euros, that's how much Czechs have raised so far in individual donations to help the stricken countries in South Asia. Most of the money has been gathered on the accounts of various aid agencies. Also, the Czech passion for sending SMS text messages from their mobile phones has been used for a good purpose.

Like elsewhere in the world, end of year celebrations in the Czech Republic passed under the cloud of the tsunami disaster, as radio and TV channels brought news of the latest developments. On Sunday a Czech military plane brought back the body of the first Czech casualty, a twenty four year old woman, and a group of survivors whose holiday in Asia turned into a nightmare.

It is customary throughout much of the world for heads of state or government to deliver a live New Year's Day address, to look back at the good and bad of the previous year and inspire the nation to work for a brighter future, even as many citizens are nursing hangovers from the previous night's celebrations. We take a look at the New Year's Day address of Czech president Vaclav Klaus.

As the full scale of the Indian Ocean disaster unfolds, there is still no information about the whereabouts of over 150 Czechs. Meanwhile, the Czech Republic is dispatching humanitarian aid to the region and Czech charities have started public collections.

In this review of the year in sport we take a brief look back at how Czech sportsmen and women fared over the last year. We start with the first major event of the year, the World Ice Hockey Championships, which were held in Prague and Ostrava, attracting over half a million spectators.

Generally, winter is not considered prime tourist season in Prague, but Christmas and New Year's Eve are an exception. Towards the end of each year, the Czech capital is bustling with foreign tourists. What attracts them to come at this time of a year? Where do they all come from? Martin Mikule has set off to Prague streets to find out.

As the phenomenal death toll continues to rise in the wake of Sunday's Indian Ocean catastrophe, over 200 Czechs are still unaccounted for. While efforts are being made to locate them, there was some good news on Tuesday, when the first plane-load of Czechs returned from disaster-hit Sri Lanka. There were emotional scenes as travellers, tired but relieved, were re-united with their families.

Sparta Prague ice hockey club celebrated its 100th year anniversary this year, making it one of the oldest sports clubs in Europe. It was in January 1904 that the club formed its first ice hockey team, which met on frozen lakes and ponds around Prague. Now a new book has just been published, documenting Sparta's long and very interesting history.

Many of you will still have vivid memories of the three-day hostage crisis at a school in Beslan, southern Russia, which resulted in the tragic death of 330 people, half of them children. Some of the traumatised children who survived the siege in September have just completed a four-week stay at a Czech spa and left for home on Wednesday.

Supporters of Viktor Yushchenko have been celebrating his victory in the re-run of Ukraine's presidential election on Sunday. However, his opponent, Viktor Yanukovych, is not giving up without a fight, saying his team will take thousands of complaints about how voting was conducted to court. But how fair was the vote really? Among the international electoral observers in Ukraine were 50 Czechs, including Ondrej Soukup of the charity People in Need. Does he believe the elections were fair this time?