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A plethora of new political parties have formed in recent weeks ahead of early elections at the end of October. They include a new attempt at forming a party to defend the interests of the country’s Roma minority, woefully unrepresented at a political level. The initiative comes at a time when relations between Roma and majority society have perhaps never been worse, so what chance does it have of success?

Last week, former Green Party chairman Martin Bursík announced that he was leaving the Greens to found a new party. A mere three days later he had collected enough signatures to apply for the registration of the Liberal Environmental Party (LES). Although the party has not been formally recognized yet or outlined its priorities, there is a great deal of speculation about its place in the Czech political landscape and its chances in the upcoming general elections. We asked political analyst Jiří Pehe who the party’s potential voters could be.

While many cafés in the Czech Republic offer patrons a complimentary sweet or a glass of water with their cup of coffee, a growing number in the country’s second city Brno are providing something altogether more unusual – the free use of a bicycle. Under the novel scheme, customers can borrow a bike at one café and return it at another.

A Ukrainian woman and her three young sons have been granted permanent residency in the Czech Republic, after two years of failed attempts to gain political asylum. Unlike most asylum seekers in this country, Anastasiya Hagen and her plight have drawn a decent amount of media attention in the past year. The main reason is not necessary the family’s story itself, but the fact that Mrs. Hagen is a former pornography actress. Masha Volynsky has the details.

A handshake may say a lot about your personality and confidence level – but apparently it is not all it says. According to a European health study just out, it can also say a lot about your state of health. The results of the study made headlines in this country because it highlighted Czech women over 50 as having the firmest handshake in Europe.

Although the short baby boom in the Czech Republic ended around 2010, parents are still having problems enrolling their children in kindergartens. Public institutions for pre-school have not been meeting the demand for a few years now, so some employers are coming up with their own solutions to help their staff members return to work from maternity leave.

With the crisis in Syria at the centre of international attention, the Czech Republic has joined calls for restraint, arguing for a political solution to the crisis and warning that a military strike could only make matters worse.

Czech league titleholders Viktoria Plzeň have booked a spot in the Champions League this season after they defeated the Slovenian side Maribor 4:1 on aggregate in the competition’s final round of qualification. Plzeň have extended their respectable winning streak in the Champions League, advancing to the group stage for the second time in three years.

Over the last week it appeared more than likely that former president Václav Klaus – long one of the most dominant figures on the political right – was preparing a political comeback. The final decision, it seems, came down the wire: in a statement released on Wednesday Mr Klaus said he had given the matter serious consideration, making clear his decision – in the end not to run – was not at all easy.

The Constitutional Court made a landmark ruling on Wednesday morning, which struck down the verdicts of three previous courts on the guilt of midwife Ivana Königsmarková. A leading home birth advocate Koningsmarkova was given a suspended two-year prison sentence, a hefty fine and a ban from her profession for delivering a baby with serious neurological defects during a home birth. For proponents of more liberal birthing regulations this can mean a big step forward, but whether the decision will actually advance the debate on home births remains