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Leading Czech scientists and physicians have appealed to lawmakers not to allow any exemptions from new EU norms on pollution that should come into force in the year 2021. The appeal, initiated by Hnutí Duha, points out that pollution in the Czech Republic causes 11,000 premature deaths each year.

It was meant to be one of the biggest Chinese investments in the Czech Republic. Now a deal giving the Chinese energy giant CEFC a 50 percent stake in the financial company J&T Finance Group looks highly uncertain as do CEFC’s other activities in the country. The company is reported to be in financial straits and its CEO under arrest for economic crime.

Ice Mother by Bohdan Sláma swept the boards at the main domestic film awards, the Czech Lions, on Saturday night. The bittersweet family drama collected six prizes, including Best Film and Best Director. This year’s Czech Lion ceremony was also marked by political protest, with some filmmakers taking a stand against the country’s leaders.

After his re-election as president some six weeks ago, Miloš Zeman suggested he would be less abrasive in office in his second term. But it didn’t take long for him to break his word. In the second half of his inaugural speech he took aim at everyone from an influential businessman to the media.

The dispute between the app-based ride sharing service Uber and local taxi drivers may soon be over. Following a meeting with Uber representatives, Prime Minister Andrej Babiš announced that Uber had agreed to operate under conditions that would put it on an equal footing with taxi drivers.

Czech president Miloš Zeman has taken the oath that will launch his second and last term as head of state. While Zeman has suggested he might be more conciliatory on the political home straight, his critics say he’s likely to be just as divisive as in the past.

The Václav Havel library, in cooperation with photographer Pavel Hroch, has recently launched an online exhibition called ‘The Faces of Resistance’. The project presents portraits and texts about 50 people who over a span of many decades stood up to political repression and brutality and who in certain moments displayed courage and a will to freedom.

Top Czech football club Sparta Prague has sacked its Italian manager and ended what is a relatively rare local experiment with a foreign coach in charge. The club has now returned to form and hired a Czech coach with the task of salvaging the rest of the season.

The election of Communist MP Zdeněk Ondráček as head of the lower house committee overseeing the police proved short-lived. Following demonstrations across the Czech Republic and a motion for his removal, the MP stepped down of his own accord. The question now is whether the Communist Party will rethink planned support for a minority government headed by Andrej Babiš.

The annual One World festival of human rights documentary films, which marks its 20th anniversary this year, has got underway in Prague. Its programme director Ondřej Moravec explained the festival’s main topic, called ‘Updating the System’: