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Fifteen buildings were just recently added to the list of Czech Cultural Monuments, including an early 20th century power station in Poděbrady and Prague’s famous Lucerna Palace. The list also includes buildings from earlier periods, such as the Invalidovna complex, which featured prominently in Miloš Forman’s Amadeus.

Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka has fired Czech Trade and Industry Minister Jan Mládek just eight months ahead of general elections. The minister, who survived a number of crises in office, was given the boot over his alleged unwillingness to secure lower telephone and mobile data tariffs in the Czech Republic.

Christmas came early for Czech tennis fans on Monday with a visit to Prague by tennis great Roger Federer, along with Tomáš Berdych, to promote the inaugural edition of the Laver Cup (named after Australian legend Rod Laver). The new tournament will be held in Prague in September, two weeks after the US Open, pitting six top European players against the best of the Rest. The world, that is.

This week marks the 10th anniversary of the founding of the Czech Republic’s Antarctic station J.G. Mendel located on James Ross Island, operated by Masaryk University in Brno. Annually, groups of scientists conduct research there from January – March. Over the decade there were significant successes and breakthrough results.

An unwritten political agreement about keeping the Communist Party out of top-level politics in the Czech Republic may be about to end. Shortly after the ANO party indicated the possibility of entering into a coalition with them following the autumn general election, Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka has said his Social Democrats would also be ready to accept them in a broad coalition government with a pro-European and social perspective. I spoke to political scientist Jiří Pehe about the implications of this development.

Czech car companies and the government have not hitherto been in the forefront of moves to promote electric cars but now both appear to have changed directions. The government is now looking to back their roll out and the biggest car maker, Škoda Auto, says a quarter of its production could be electric or hybrid cars by 2025.

Smog alerts have been declared in Prague for the second time this year and many other parts of the Czech Republic have also suffered heavy and sustained air pollution in recent months. While forecasters say weather conditions in the coming days may alleviate the situation, what is to be done to combat smog – which kills thousands of people every year – in the longer term? I discussed efforts to improve the situation with environmentalist Vojtěch Kotecký from the think tank Glopolis.

Dancing is fun, but the latest research suggests it could be far more beneficial for your health than previously thought. Scientists at Brno’s Masaryk University are studying the effects of dancing on a group of seniors to see whether practicing this form of activity regularly could slow down or even prevent the development of Alzheimer’s disease.

When Jaromír Jágr began playing in the NHL at 18 with rock star hair (which later prompted the slogan Fear the mullet) back in 1990, few knew the talented player would still be playing more than a quarter of a century later. Not only that, but that he would be one of the best to have ever played the game, behind only the Great One Wayne Gretzky and Gordie Howe on goals. Jágr turned 45 on Wednesday and the future Hall of Famer is showing no signs of slowing down.

The Social Democrats will campaign for October’s general election on a pledge to introduce a special tax on banks. Party leader Bohuslav Sobotka says the new taxes would help fund schools and infrastructure and stop profits leaving the country. But critics say the move could lead to higher charges for customers and create financial instability.