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Cross the Line is the title of a new exhibition of Czech and Slovak contemporary glass design that runs from Sunday in the Czech House Jerusalem. The exhibition is a joint project organized in cooperation with the Czech Centre Tel Aviv and the Museum of Glass and Jewellery in Jablonec nad Nisou. I asked the head of Czech Centre in Tel-Aviv, Robert Mikoláš, to tell me more about the exhibition:

The Czech government has recognized Juan Guaidó, the self-proclaimed interim president of Venezuela, as the legitimate leader of his country pending elections. The proposal was put forward by the Czech Minister of Foreign Affairs, who has been advocating for the European Union to take a united stand.

Monday marks exactly 300 years since the publication of the first ever Czech-language newspaper, Pražské poštovské noviny, or The Prague Postal Newspaper. Its publisher, a Czech patriot, regarded the paper as a way to promote the use of the language under the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Experts and politicians agree that high-speed railways are vital for the future of the Czech Republic. Current plans envision a network that would not just connect major Czech cities with other European capitals, but also regional centres with Prague, increasing development across the country. The target is to have three high-speed rail lines by 2025.

The head of the Czech Roman Catholic Church has hit back at a Communist Party bill aimed at taxing compensation paid to churches for property seized under the previous regime. Cardinal Dominik Duka has described the Communists’ move as a “black comedy” and says a Senate vote on the matter will determine how faith groups proceed.

To commemorate the 100 year anniversary of the introduction of the crown, the Czech National Bank has issued special coins and banknotes that members of the public can trade for their normal equivalents. The coins and banknotes can be used as currency, but most eager collectors will be unwilling to give them up.

The founders of a project to educate Czech schoolchildren about HIV and AIDS, named in honour of the late Queen frontman Freddie Mercury, plan to take it worldwide. The phenomenal success of the new biopic “Bohemian Rhapsody” has raised the project’s profile ahead of its global launch – which its founders say is a happy coincidence.

The band Lake Malawi will represent the Czech Republic at this year’s Eurovision Song Contest, to be held in Tel Aviv in May. The indie-pop band, formed in 2013 by the singer and guitarist Albert Černý, garnered the most votes in the Czech national round, leaving behind seven other finalists. I spoke to Lake Malawi’s frontman about their success and I started by asking why they decided to take part in the Eurovision contest:

Crime rates continue to sink in the Czech Republic, going down by 5 percent in 2018, and trust in the police is at a record high according to polls. Yet while property theft and murders are down, police warn that an increasing number of crimes are happening in cyberspace.

Czech Foreign Minister Tomáš Petříček has been meeting local leaders on a two-day visit to Ukraine. He has held talks with his Ukrainian counterpart and announced the creation of a special Czech-Ukrainian forum, as well as visiting the blockaded port city of Mariupol in the east of the country.