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A Czech national and eight others missing since last Friday following a terrorist attack on an oil field in Libya, could be in the hands of Islamic State, according to a statement released on Monday by the Austrian Foreign Ministry. Czech officials have not gone as far, saying they were in the process of gathering information, sending envoys to the region.

With escalating tensions between the West and Vladimir Putin’s Russia, Czech top officials have welcomed the possible extension of the US-European operation Atlantic Resolve to the Czech Republic. The Czech prime minister said his country had a vested interest in joint military training with NATO allies and could offer some of its bases for this purpose.

The opening ceremony will be staged today for the biggest athletics event the Czech Republic has staged for almost four decades – the European Athletics Indoor Championships. And hopes are high that home advantage and enthusiastic fans will spur a record Czech contingent onto the winners’ podium.

As people around the Czech Republic remember the eight people shot dead in an apparently random attack at a pub in Uherský Brod last week, questions are still being asked about how the police handled the situation. An investigation into the operation may take some time. But for now the interior minister has proposed steps aimed at averting similar incidents in future.

The first group of ethnic Czechs from eastern Ukraine, repatriated under a special government programme, has finally arrived in the Czech Republic, after nearly a year of negotiations. Another group is scheduled to arrive in the Czech capital by a special government plane in mid-March.

Residents in the Brečlav area have been advised to exercise caution after a brown bear was sighted in local woodland on Tuesday. The animal is believed to have wandered into South Moravia across the Slovak border – and may have been in the area before.

Czech President Miloš Zeman pledged his unwavering support to Israel on Monday during an appearance at the AIPAC lobbying organisation’s annual summit in Washington D.C. Mr. Zeman’s comments, in which he praised Israel as a regional beacon of democracy, come in the wake of a similar position expressed at events marking the anniversary of the Holocaust back in January.

The Polish daily Rzeczpospolita put the Czech Republic in the spotlight on Monday, when it claimed that some Czech firms have been exporting weapons to Russia despite the embargo imposed by the EU and the US in response to Russia’s intervention in Ukraine. In reaction to the criticism, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has issued a statement denying the accusations.

Andrej Babiš was re-elected leader of his ANO party on Saturday, gaining the approval of 186 delegates gathered for the party's annual congress in Prague. Expressing surprise over his 100 percent victory, Mr. Babiš sounded a combative, partisan tone to the party faithful. The Finance Minister’s harshest words were targeted at his fellow coalition members, the Social Democrats. I spoke with political analyst Jiří Pehe for his take on Babiš’s victory:

The Czech Ministry of the environment is launching a joint investigation with German authorities following countless complaints of noxious smells alleged to be seeping across the border into Germany. Inhabitants in the state of Saxony are pointing the finger squarely at the numerous factories which dot the landscape of the north-west Czech Republic.