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The exit of Britain from the European Union, sealed in last year’s Brexit vote, has left many Czechs living in the UK wondering whether there will be a place for them there in the future. British Prime Minister Theresa May has backed their right to remain after Brexit takes effect, stating that EU citizens make a “vital contribution’ to British society and the economy”. The fact is, much is now up in the air and some are worried they could fall through the cracks.

In central Europe the name Zelený čtvrtek or Green Thursday (known in English as Maundy Thursday) inspired a tradition of eating green food, such as salad and spinach. Many Czechs have embraced this practice and the sworn meat-eaters simply down their stake with a pint of green beer. The annual green beer festivities originated in Brno twelve years ago and have now spread to many parts of the country.

The country’s health minister, Miloslav Ludvík, has outlined ambitious long-term plans to reform Czech psychiatric care, placing new emphasis on community care. On Tuesday, the minister said that when it came to psychiatry, the Czech Republic needed to move towards the West: the plan is to create a new network of some 100 mental health centres serving patients locally.

Czech football’s first division is set for a major shake-up from the start of the 2018–2019 season. Following 30 rounds of the regular season, clubs will form three groups, with the top one battling for the title and the bottom one fighting to avoid the drop. But what is the motivation for the huge change?

The government has approved Culture Ministry plans to provide tens of millions of crowns in state funds for largely regional galleries and museums to acquire Czech as well as international contemporary artwork produced over the last 50 years. The acquisition fund, to be overseen by a nine-member board, would allocate tens of millions of crowns to help fill gaps in state collections of work by key artists, for one reason or another, have been under-represented.

Romany singer Radek Banga is to receive the František Kriegel Award for civic courage, handed out annually by the Charter 77 Foundation. The popular rapper was selected for his fearless stand against racism and xenophobia in Czech society.

Czech MPs have just passed a bill aimed at tightening conditions for foreigners and curbing economic migration. The government argues that the new rules are necessary for security reasons. But employers are struggling to fill positions and fear the legislation may make things worse.

Up to 100,000 volunteers are expected to take part in a massive spring clean-up of the Czech countryside this weekend. The rubbish clearance, which was first launched in the country in 2008, is part of the international campaign Clean up the World and attracts more and more volunteers each year. I spoke to Miroslav Kubásek from the Czech Union of Nature Conservation, one of the main organizers, and first asked him what they hoped to achieve this year:

The Czech crown is no longer subject to the central bank’s low crown regime, or specifically the currency interventions that kept it at or below 27 crowns to the euro. But that does not mean a complete ‘hands off’ from the central bank. So if it’s not deliberately low, where will the crown now go?

The Czech Republic has joined widespread condemnation of Tuesday’s toxic gas attack in Syria’s northwestern Idlib province that left 100 people dead and 400 injured, many of them children. Speaking at an international conference in aid of Syria, Foreign Minister Lubomir Zaorálek said that if it were confirmed that the Assad regime had used chemical weapons against innocent civilians Prague would consider resolute action, including the possibility of closing its embassy in Damascus.