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The Czech government has found itself under increased pressure over its recent refusal to accept refugees from Syria. A number of NGOs, churches and other groups have asked the cabinet to reverse its decision, and at least provide treatment to a group of wounded and ill Syrian children.

A specially-commissioned bust of the late Czech president Václav Havel is set to be unveiled at Ireland’s parliament, the Dáil, in March next year. The man behind the idea is Bill Shipsey, founder of Art for Amnesty and also one of the initiators of the international Havel’s Place series of memorial spots. On the line to Dublin, I asked Mr. Shipsey where the idea for the bust had come from.

On Thursday, December 18th, Czechs are marking the third anniversary of the death of Vaclav Havel, the legend of the Velvet Revolution and the country’s first post-communist president. Commemorative events are taking place in different parts of the country, but some critics point out that three years after his departure, the Czech Republic has strayed far from Vaclav Havel’s philosophy and ideals.

With low oil prices and EU sanctions hitting the Russian economy hard, the country’s currency the rouble tumbled to a record low against the U.S. dollar on Tuesday. Interventions by Moscow, including a steep hike in interest rates, have led to a slight recovery on Wednesday, though trading was still described as volatile. Given that some 4 percent of the Czech Republic’s exports go to Russia, what impact could the rouble’s problems have on the Czech economy? That’s a question I put to David Marek, chief economist at the Czech branch of

After months of speculation, Czech tennis men’s No.1 Tomáš Berdych announced he will have a new coach for 2015: Venezuelan former player Daniel Vallverdu. Vallverdu, who was part of the coaching team headed by Ivan Lendl which led Scotsman Andy Murray to triumph at Wimbledon, the US Open and the London Olympics, replaces Tomáš Krupa. Berdych made the announcement on Tuesday on facebook.

The Czech cabinet on Monday reaffirmed its full support for EU sanctions against Russia. A Foreign Ministry report concluded that the sanctions were having a tangible effect on the Russian economy and should remain in place until Russia changed its stance on Ukraine.

The Astronomical Institute of the Czech Republic has asked members of the public for help in looking for parts of a meteor, classified as a bolide, which lit up the evening sky over the region of Česko-Moravská Vysočina (the Czech-Moravian highlands) last Tuesday. The meteor broke up in different pieces and some are thought to have fallen near Ždár nad Sazavou. Researchers gleaned a wealth of information from the event; now they are hoping a chunk of the original object will be found on the ground.

The Czech Defense Minister Martin Stropnický paid a morale-boosting visit to Czech troops in Afghanistan on Sunday ahead of the Christmas holidays. Although NATO’s ISAF mission in the country is slowly drawing to an end and many countries are pulling out their troops, the Czech contingent will remain to serve in NATO’s non-combat operation Resolute Support.

The European Court of Human Rights has ruled against two Czech women seeking to challenge national legislation effectively banning home births with midwives serving as formal medical assistants. The petitioners both argued that the Czech law violated their human rights, a claim rejected by the court, and are now planning to appeal the verdict.

There are currently some 150,000 people in the Czech Republic suffering from various forms of dementia, most frequently Alzheimer’s disease. That is relatively few compared to some other European countries. But experts warn that the number is rapidly increasing due to the ageing Czech population, and there is no official strategy in place either to combat the disease or to coordinate care for sufferers. I discussed the issue with Ondřej Mátl, co-author of a freshly released report on the state of dementia in the country.