Panorama | All stories

Although Czech soldiers are currently serving in foreign missions in Iraq, Afghanistan, Mali and the Sinai Peninsula, their service and daily lives far from home remain veiled in mystery for most Czechs. A book entitled The Other Life, which hit bookshelves late last year, aims to change that and increase the public’s respect for members of the Czech armed forces.

The Czech environmental group Arnika is ringing alarm bells. According to the results of a recent study it conducted, some children’s toys and grooming accessories, such as hair brushes, sold in the EU contain toxic substances. Arnika’s Karolína Brabcová says this is an unfortunate side product of the drive to promote plastics recycling.

“Adopt a Doll, Save a life” is a project launched by the Czech branch of UNICEF fifteen years ago. Over that time it has helped to save the lives of some 30,000 children. Ahead of the Christmas holidays the Czech mission to the United Nations and the Czech branch of UNICEF brought the project to New York, organizing a charity auction at the National Bohemian Hall. I asked the head of the Czech branch of UNICEF Pavla Gomba to tell me more about the event and the project itself.

The NGO People in Need is active in more than 30 countries the world over, giving immediate aid in humanitarian crises, helping communities threatened by malnutrition, helping the poor to find a livelihood, fighting violence against women and helping give children an education. One of its successful fundraising projects is Give a Real Gift which motivates thousands of people to think of those less fortunate not only during the Christmas season. I spoke with Jan Svitalek of People in Need and began by asking him to explain the NGO’s Real Gift

When was the last time your senses deceived you? Now you have the chance to put them all to the test in the newly-opened Museum of Senses In Prague. The museum is a playful world where nothing around you is what it seems. I went along to see the attractions and was given a guided tour by Primož Kolarič who began by telling me how the idea to open such a museum arose.

Brno is cool again. The second city of the Czech Republic is finally shedding its somewhat shabby image and finding healthy self-confidence. Its streets are filling with smart shops and there is a lot to do and see. As our reporter Vít Pohanka found out it is definitely a place worth visiting.

Jakub Mertl and his wife Kristyna who run a successful personalized dating agency, recently made headlines by establishing an online dating agency catering specially to disabled people. I met with Jakub to talk about his work and what it takes to find love. He started by telling me what made him and his wife consider setting up a special online service for disabled clients.

The Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) established in 1999 by the Council of Europe to monitor member states’ compliance with the organization’s anti-corruption standards, is currently holding a two-day conference in Prague. Its aim is to highlight the main trends and the lessons learned from GRECO’s Fourth Evaluation Round of the Czech Republic’s anti-corruption drive.

Ježíšek’s grandchildren ( Santa’s grandchildren) is the name of a nationwide charity project launched by Czech Radio. It aims to bring a smile to the faces of abandoned, elderly, people who have no family and friends to cheer them up. The aim is to encourage members of the public to grant these people a wish as a special Christmas gift in a scheme that should interconnect generations and revive the true spirit of Christmas. I spoke to Marietta Prajslerová, one of the project organizers at Czech Radio, about what it involves and how the idea

The traditional parties on the Czech political scene arte still stinging from the defeat they suffered in the general elections at the hands of anti-establishment and protest parties. What made Czechs throw the traditional parties overboard in favour of the Pirates, the nationalist Freedom and Direct Democracy Party and, most of all, place their trust in the leader of the ANO party, Andrej Babiš, who was recently charged with EU subsidy fraud?