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‘IMF approved’ is probably a badge that the Czech government ministers, finance ministry officials, and central bank policy setters could wear with pride after the latest visit and assessment from the international economic watchdog and advisor. The latest report is broadly upbeat but contains the customary dose of caution and advice.

Seventy years after the end of World War Two, the Brno City Hall has issued an official apology to the victims of the violent expulsions of the German speaking population that took place in the aftermath of the war.

Czech Foreign Minister Lubomír Zaorálek, meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart Pavel Klimkin on Tuesday, expressed strong support for the Ukraine-EU Association Agreement, a day before it was due to be discussed in the Czech Chamber of Deputies. While the agreement should be ratified easily in the lower house, the move was temporarily delayed by the opposition communists.

Long in making, the new Czech energy strategy has finally been approved. It puts the emphasis on more nuclear plants eventually generating half the country’s electricity. But while the goals have been set, how to get there is still in some respects up in the air.

The Czech Republic on Monday gave its full backing to EU plans to establish a naval force to combat people-smuggling in the Mediterranean where more than 1,800 migrants have died since the beginning of the year. However the Czech authorities remain opposed to the idea of adopting national quotas for housing migrants, which they say would create unforeseen problems.

International aid continues to pour into Nepal where aid workers are struggling to deal with the aftermath of a series of devastating earthquakes. Among the international organizations providing aid in the field are Doctors Without Borders (MSF) who were among the first to respond to the natural disaster. I spoke to the head of the Czech branch of Doctors Without Borders Pavel Gruber about the extent of aid being provided and the country’s most pressing needs.

Long-term disputes about the future of the Šumava National Park may have finally come to an end. The government on Thursday approved an amendment to the law on nature and landscape protection that should make the Czech Republic’s four main national parks more accessible to tourists. I spoke to the deputy head of Šumava National Park, Martin Starý, and first asked him about the main changes proposed in the new legislation:

On Thursday, the Czech Republic faces Finland in their first knockout stage match at the Ice Hockey World Championships. As the hosts of this year’s tournament, the Czechs – led by Jakub Voráček and legendary forward Jaromír Jágr – will do their utmost to make it to the semis, to keep alive chances of winning a medal at home. But beating the Finns, backstopped by a phenomenal Pekka Rinne, won’t be easy.

The Czech Republic has strongly rejected freshly announced European Union plans for a quota system for accepting refugees. The EU wants the country to take in over 500 refugees permanently and to process the asylum requests of thousands more. But the Prague government insists any such scheme should be voluntary.

The 70th edition of the Prague Spring International Music Festival has just got underway. As every year, Tuesday’s opening concert at the Municipal Hall featured one of the greatest of Czech compositions, My Country by Bedřich Smetana. But this year, for the first time ever, a German orchestra performed at the curtain raiser for the biggest event in Czech classical music.