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The Czech government has in the past few years repeatedly been criticized by international bodies for discrimination of Romany children in the Czech education system. Now the Ombudsman’s office has confirmed what the European Commission and the European Court of Human Rights have said all along – that the much criticized practice of sending Romany children to schools for children with learning, mental or physical disabilities persists on a broad scale.

The Czech Foreign Ministry has issued a strong warning against all travel to the Sinai Peninsula. Quoting intelligence reports, the ministry warns of a heightened risk of terrorism across the area including the popular resorts of Sharm-El-Sheikh and Dahab. But Czech travel agencies have slammed the warning which they say is too vague.

If artist Josef Čapek is less known to non-Czechs than his younger brother Karel, the writer, that’s all the more reason to visit the new exhibition dedicated to his life and work at the National Library. The show, which opens on Wednesday, commemorates the 125th birthday of the jack of all artistic trades, and recalls the very different fortunes and pursuits of his professional life.

The Czech Parliament had not seen the like of it – a member of Parliament, held in police custody on corruption charges, was escorted to the lower house where he tried to convince his fellow MPs of his innocence. Such was the scene that unfolded in the Czech Chamber of Deputies on Tuesday when MP David Rath accused everyone from the interior minister to the police and prosecutors from destroying his career. But Mr Rath’s speech failed to impress his colleagues who handed him over for prosecution.

A study conducted by the non-governmental organisation People in Need, together with Millward Brown, gauging how Czech secondary school students view Czech society and the world around them, has produced some worrying results. Along with the ‘usual’ dissatisfaction over issues such as poor governance (highlighted in a previous study in 2009) the majority of 1,100 students queried now perceived the number one issue as problems with the Roma minority – citing an alleged unwillingness on their part to work, improve in their studies and so on.

On Tuesday, protesters from the initiative “For a Free Syria” gathered in front of the Czech government’s headquarters. Demonstrators are demanding that the Czech Republic sever all diplomatic ties with Syria, as many other European nations have already done. However, it seems unlikely that the Foreign Ministry will take this step.

It’s a revolution in Czech health care: as of this month some Czech hospitals are enabling patients to be treated by the surgeon or specialist of their choice on condition that they are prepared to pay extra for his or her services. While the change has only legalized a practice that’s been around for years, critics say it smacks of discrimination.

Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg on Friday presented the 16th annual Gratias Agit awards in recognition of those who promote the good name of the Czech Republic abroad. This year’s 12 laureates of the prize include former figure-skating champion Ája Vrzáňová, UK-based architect Eva Jiřičná, composer Antonín Tučapský, and others.

On occasion of the 70-year-anniversary of the Heydrich assassination, an exhibition on the subject has opened in Israel’s Parliament, the Knesset. While the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich is one of the most significant events in modern Czech history, the story of how the governor of the occupied Czech lands was killed is relatively unknown in Israel – despite the fact that Heydrich was one of the main architects behind the Final Solution.

A conference and an exhibition this week commemorate the 100th anniversary of the birth of the late Professor Gordon Skilling, a leading scholar on modern Czech and Slovak history. Gordon Skilling’s life-long interest in Central Europe began before WWII when he came to Prague to do research for his dissertation, a time he also briefly worked for Radio Prague. We spoke to Gordon Skilling’s son David who is in Prague for the events, and asked him what it was like to be growing up surrounded by all things Czech.