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Members of the Czech Olympic team touched down in Prague on Monday – back from Pyeongchang and one of the most successful winter games in recent memory. It was an Olympics where speed skater Martina Sablíková and snowboard cross competitor Eva Samková confirmed they still had it and Ester Ledecká made history by winning golds in snowboard and super-G. On Monday afternoon, she, Martina Sablíková and others were greeted by thousands at the Old Town Square.

Czechs have reacted with shock and widespread condemnation to the murder of journalist, Ján Kuciak, and his girlfriend in neighbouring Slovakia. The news that the journalist was most likely murdered for exposing corruption in high office has raised concern for democracy and freedom of the press, sparking a debate on the position of the media here in the Czech Republic.

The Czech Republic has found itself in a diplomatic tug-of-war between Turkey and the main Syrian Kurdish political party PYD following the arrest of former PYD leader Saleh Muslim in Prague. Muslim was detained at the weekend on an Interpol warrant at Turkey’s behest. Turkey has requested his extradition, while the PYD has appealed for his release.

Fans of Czechoslovak cinema, in particular the Czech New Wave, will most likely be familiar with many of the films of director Jiří Menzel. From the Oscar-winning Closely Watched Trains to Larks on a String and Capricious Summer, Menzel changed Czech film forever. This Friday, he celebrates his 80th birthday.

The head of the Czech nuclear watchdog has warned of pressure to close the country’s oldest nuclear reactors early. That would effectively blow a massive hole in the country’s energy strategy and timeframe for getting new replacement reactors built in time.

The Czech Republic’s position on the Corruption Perception Index published by Transparency International slightly improved in 2017. The country moved two rungs up the ladder to 42nd place, acquiring 57 points out of a maximum possible 100. David Ondráčka of Transparency’s Czech branch told Radio Prague that the improvement was only slight and the country should aim to do better.

The Czech Interior Ministry has granted asylum to eight Chinese Christians seeking protection in the country on the grounds of religious persecution. The requests of seventy other applicants were rejected. A lawyer representing the group of Chinese Christians has said she will advise them to appeal the decision.

Twenty years since Nagano, the Czech hockey team has again edged the United States in the men’s quarterfinal at the Winter Olympics. At these games, it was a close affair, with the match coming down to a penalty shootout.

Amid recent heightened talk about the possibilities a Czech exit from the European Union or a referendum about it, a survey of five Central Europe countries has sought to gauge how positive local populations are towards the European concept.

The exhibition Residence: Prefab Estate presents the history of selected residential complexes in the Czech Republic and the social, political, cultural and economic circumstances that accompanied their construction. It follows the development of housing estates in the Czech lands from their start in the late 1940s up until the first years of the 1990s, when such construction came to an end. A brief summary is also presented of the later attempts at ‘humanising’ prefabricated buildings as well as current reflections by architects and historians