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A freshly published opinion poll suggests the Czech Pirate Party are currently the second most popular political grouping in the country, with 15 percent support. That’s four percent more than the pro-transparency party received in October when they entered the lower house for the first time. So what are the Pirates doing right? That’s a question I put to political scientist Jiří Pehe.

Self-styled “home guard” paramilitary groups now have around 2,000 members in the Czech Republic and represent a significant security threat. That’s according to the Ministry of the Interior’s latest report on extremism. It warns that some of these groups are xenophobic and racist and are attempting to forge ties with members of the police.

When the schoolyear starts on Monday, many principals will still be searching for teachers, especially for maths and physics classes. Although better paid than ever before, the “noble profession” is attracting fewer young people, even recent grads with teaching degrees, and some retirees have been called back into service to offset the lack of qualified educators.

Czech football fans are in for a treat with the news that Viktoria Plzeň are set to welcome one of the world’s biggest clubs, Real Madrid, in the Champions League. The domestic title-holders will also face Roma and CSKA Moscow in Europe’s top international club competition.

A new exhibition in Prague maps the century since the foundation of Czechoslovakia via photographs of the presidents who have served since 1918. I Hereby Proclaim My Loyalty to the Republic captures a succession of heads of state carrying out official duties but also in more casual moments.

Receding waterlines stemming from long droughts this summer have revealed some disturbing ancient relics – so-called “hunger stones”, some dating back as far as 1616, which serve as a warning to future generations. One such hydrological landmark on the Labe River is inscribed in German with the words in "If you see me, weep."

The centrist Ano party and its junior coalition partner, the Social Democrats, have reached a framework agreement on increasing public sector salaries. While the specifics have not yet been made public, the coalition has agreed on a differentiated range of salary increases of about 8 per cent on average, with workers who now earn the least set to get the biggest raises.

With property prices soaring, more and more Czechs are finding it hard to find affordable housing. Now the government has come out with one possible solution – a programme of major investment in state apartments that would be rented out by municipalities.

Dozens of people gathered outside the Russian embassy in Prague on Tuesday to demand the release of jailed Ukrainian film maker Oleg Sentsov and other prisoners of conscience. The gathering lasted exactly 107 minutes, symbolizing the 107 days that Sentsov has been on a hunger strike in a Siberian prison.

Prime Minister Andrej Babiš has said that to bring a halt to illegal migration a comprehensive action plan for the entire European Union is needed – and the Czech Republic is ready to prepare just such a proposal. To stem the tide, he has even floated the idea of the protection of EU borders being transferred to the Nato level.