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A successful and respected politician on the European, and previously on the national level, Zuzana Roithová seems to be the image of decency in politics. However, her presidential candidacy has so far failed to gather too much public support.

The cabinet reshuffle, announced on Tuesday, brings to an end speculation over who will lead which ministries in the government’s final year-an-a-half. Despite criticism from the president and members of the opposition, Deputy Prime Minister Karolína Peake takes over as Defence Minister, while Zbyněk Stanjura, somewhat surprisingly, will serve as Minister of Transport.

It is impossible to miss Czech artist and composer Vladimír Franz in a crowd: the professor, who teaches Music in Theatre Performance at DAMU in Prague, is tattooed on all visible parts of his body, including his face and hands. Now Mr Franz is also one of the country’s most unusual - and most unexpected – candidates for president.

Communist state prosecutor Karel Vaš, a key player in some of Czechoslovakia’s notorious show trials of the 1950s, died at a Prague nursing home at the weekend. He was 96. Vaš, who remained unrepentant to the last, escaped punishment for his crimes in the post-1989 period – a source of regret to some historians and former political prisoners.

A tapestry dedicated to the late Czech president Václav Havel and financed by some of the world’s biggest rock stars was unveiled on Sunday at Prague’s recently renamed Václav Havel Airport. The massive artwork is based on a tribute to Mr. Havel by the Czech-born illustrator Peter Sís, while its creation was overseen by Amnesty International.

Few of the government’s social reforms have aroused as much opposition as the controversial S-Card system; a new electronic system streamlining social and welfare benefit payments which is to come into force in January. In the face of growing opposition from left-wing parties, the National Disability Council and even the Ombudsman, the centre-right government has now promised to amend the law which would make S-Card payments mandatory for everyone concerned.

While the name Auxiliary Technical Battalions sounds innocuous, in reality such battalions were a division of the Czechoslovak Army that used conscripts as virtual slave labour, and thousands of men who the Communists deemed “politically unreliable” were in effect interned in them in the 1950s. Now, those still alive look set to be placed in the same official category as former political prisoners – and to receive a little compensation.

The Czech football clubs Viktoria Plzeň and Sparta Prague are in the happy situation of going into their final group games in the Europa League on Thursday night having already qualified for the knock-out phase of Europe’s second-tier club competition. Their success means that it will be the first time in nine years that Czech teams are still performing on the international stage after Christmas. What is behind their success? That’s a question RP put to Karel Häring, from the Czech daily Sport.

The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with Prime Minister Petr Nečas on Wednesday as part of a brief visit before heading to Germany. The aim was to thank his Czech counterpart for supporting Israel’s stance against the Palestinian Authority gaining a non-member observer status at the UN. The Czech Republic was one of only nine nations that voted against the resolution at last Thursday’s meeting of the General Assembly – a decision that drew criticism from many sides.

Wednesday evening - Mikuláš – the eve before Saint Nicolas’ Day – is being eagerly awaited by children around the country. Each year on December 5, Saint Nicolas accompanied by an angel and a devil, visits Czech families to see if the children have been good. Kids who were well-behaved receive sweets, chocolate, fruit or a present, while those who were naughty (at least in theory) receive a potato or lump of coal.