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Approximately 1.5 million Czechs are living below the national poverty line. In line with their election promises, the Social Democrats have now unveiled a long-term poverty reduction plan aiming to improve their lot. But with money in short supply, the leading party in government will need to convince its own coalition partners of the need to spend tens of billions of crowns on higher pensions and social housing.

The Czech national hockey team face traditional rivals Slovakia in their opening game at the world championship in Belarus. The Czechs, star veteran Jaromír Jágr on the roster and a new coach, are looking to improve on their disappointing 7th place from last year as well as 6th place they reached at the Sochi Olympics. Former Czech international Martin Hosták is in the Belorussian capital as a commentator for Czech TV. I asked him what he thought of the Czech team ahead of the opening match.

German President Joachim Gauck on Wednesday concludes his official three-day visit to the Czech Republic. Together with his host, Czech President Miloš Zeman, Mr Gauck paid homage to the victims of Nazism at the former concentration camp in Terezín. But he also recalled the fate of millions of ethnic Germans expelled from Czechoslovakia after the Second World War.

This coming Friday marks a significant anniversary in the history of Czech transportation as it will be exactly 40 years since Prague’s Metro went into operation. The first underground trains carried passengers between nine stations on one line – and consisted of only three carriages.

The recent tragic case of a Czech policewoman killed by a hit-and-run driver high on drugs has led to calls for stricter rules that would keep repeat offenders off the road. The man responsible for the officer’s death had been behind the wheel despite having received an incredible 11 driving bans. The authorities are now considering measures to prevent such cases from happening again – but also warn of a steep increase in the number of Czechs caught driving under the influence of drugs.

With the Ice Hockey World Championships beginning in Minsk on Friday, the Czech NGO People in Need has launched a campaign criticising the Lukashenko regime for its less than stellar record on human rights. The NGO is hoping to impress upon viewers that regimes like the one in Belarus use international sporting events as a façade, creating the impression everything at home is hunky dory.

A Czech military observer who was held hostage by pro-Russian separatists along with other members of a team from the OSCE was released at the weekend. Forty-one-year-old lieutenant-colonel Josef Přerovský described several moments during the team’s capture as ‘touch-and-go’; thankfully, he and other members of the team, have since safely returned home.

May 2nd is D-day for the close to 90 thousand students around the country sitting their school leaving exams. The standardized exams are not just a test of their knowledge but an indicator of how well the Education Ministry has succeeded in reforming the education sector –a task it has struggled with these past twenty years.

The tragic life story of the 1980s Czech pop star Iveta Bartošová has come to a shocking end. After years of addiction and alcohol abuse and destructive personal relations, the 48-year-old singer committed suicide on Tuesday by throwing herself under a train. Bartošová’s tribulations in recent years were very closely followed by the country’s tabloids and some, including her husband, believe that the media’s invasive attention contributed to her demise. But can the tabloids really be held to blame? That’s a question I put to journalist Jana Ciglerová,

A hit and run court case with a difference has just come to an end in a Prague court after two years of intensive speculation on the proceedings and result. And for some the verdict will be proof that even the most powerful are not above the law.