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Friday night will see the premiere of a new episode of Kancelář Blaník or Blaník Office, a hugely popular political comedy series now beginning its fourth season. Broadcast on the online TV channel Stream.cz since April 2014, the show has become one of the hits contributing to the increasing popularity of internet-only television in the Czech Republic.

A new unit run by the Czech interior ministry designed to counter fake news and state-sponsored disinformation is to be up and running by January 1. Addressing concerns about censorship, the government insists that the new Centre Against Terrorism and Hybrid Threats is a necessary tool critical to national security.

A recent poll commissioned by the Post Bellum organisation which collects 20th century oral history recordings has found that while 86 percent of Czechs believe knowing one’s roots is important, less than a half of the population actually do anything about it. And that’s what the organisation aims to challenge, with a public contest searching for the most captivating personal accounts from the 20th century.

Cambodian police have confirmed the arrest of a Czech woman on suspicion of dealing in the drug ecstasy. The woman, who is understood to have pled guilty to the charges, now faces a hefty prison sentence.

Earlier this month the Czech Foreign Ministry launched a five-minute video promoting the Czech Republic or should we say – Czechia. Apart from showcasing the country’s achievements the video is also meant to reinforce awareness of the recently approved short version of its official name.

The Czech humanitarian organization People in Need is actively involved in international efforts to get humanitarian aid to the more than 20,000 civilians evacuated from eastern Aleppo in the past week and those still trapped in the besieged city. Over the weekend, People in Need, lost another of its regional coordinators, killed in the bombing of Atareb, not far from Aleppo. I spoke to People in Need’s Tomáš Kocián, chief coordinator for aid to Syria, about the present situation.

A new survey conducted by the European Parliament reveals that Czechs have more negative views about this institution than the EU average. Almost three-quarters of Czech respondents said that they did not believe their voices were being heard by the EU, and only 17 percent of Czechs have a favourable view of the European Parliament. Jan Kovář is chief analyst at the European Values think-tank. I asked him what was behind such low numbers.

The Czech Foreign Ministry has confirmed that a Czech national was among the victims of Monday’s terrorist attack in Berlin. The woman, who lived and worked in Berlin, is the third Czech victim of terrorism, and the first to die in a terrorist attack in Europe.

Jakub Jan Ryba’s Czech Christmas Mass is undoubtedly one of the symbols of Czech Christmas, along with fried carp and Christmas cookies. Composed by a small-town teacher in 1796, the pastoral mass has become the most popular piece of Czech Christmas music ever written. At this time of the year it resounds in churches and concert halls across the country, but also beyond its borders. Recently, the Czech Christmas Mass premiered in Tokyo.

In the wake of his surprise election, US president elect Donald Trump has been busy putting together his White House team. And most of the diplomatic world outside the US, the Czech Republic included, has been poring over the appointments and subsequent comments for clues they could give about Trump’s future priorities and policies will be once the election rhetoric is cast off.