As the country struggled to deal with icy conditions and heavy snow at the weekend, several hundred Czech men and women stripped down to their swimsuits in the freezing cold to set a new Czech record and help a good cause. The event was organized by free diver David Vencl and the Good Day agency from Pelhřimov.

The Czech Centres, which promote Czech culture around the globe, have a new director general. Jitka Pánek Jurková, who for some years headed the Czech Centre in Brussels, says her priorities will include using the arts to promote values and tailoring the network’s activities to individual countries.

A unique performance, produced by the National Theatre Ballet and the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra, is set to have its world premiere on Friday night. Called Holo Harmonies , the project will be held simultaneously in Prague and in Baden-Baden, with the two stages connected through hologram technology.

Tomáš Duchek’s elaborate digital paintings have won him big-name clients such as Star Wars, Magic the Gathering and Disney. He has also worked for Warhorse Studios, which made one of Czechia’s most internationally popular video games, Kingdom Come Deliverance, and is now working on his own illustrated book. I caught up with him recently to find out how he creates his detailed drawings and what it’s like working with some of the world’s most famous franchises.

Antonín Panenka, one of the greatest names in the history of Czech football, turns 75 on Saturday. With a famous cheeky penalty kick in 1976 he created a new soccer term – “the panenka” – that is still used all around the world to this day.

Hospitals are bracing for a staff crisis in December after the Health Ministry refused to meet doctors’ demands for higher pay and less overtime. Hospitals are cancelling non-essential surgeries, some are closing entire departments and stretching their resources to the limit to cover emergency care in the coming weeks.

A recent survey by the Kantar.cz agency indicates that Czechs’ support for Ukraine in the war with Russia is slowly waning. According to the results, 51 percent of Czechs are no longer in favour of continued military support for the country, up from 36 percent just over a year and a half ago. To learn more about what’s behind the dwindling support , I spoke with Petr Drbohlav, director for Eastern Partnerships at the charity NGO People in Need.

Czech President Petr Pavel is among the 28 most influential people who will co-determine the character of Europe in 2024, according to the Brussels-based website Politico , which describes him as a hawk on Russia and China, a supporter of Ukraine and promoter of NATO enlargement. Others in the top 28 are French President Emmanuel Macron, Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. I asked political scientist Vladimíra Dvořáková how she perceives the Czech president’s listing.

Prague’s Motol hospital, the largest healthcare facility in the country, is working on introducing a voicebot to assists patients with their phone inquiries and even manage their medical schedules. The voicebot, which will speak in 60 languages, should help take the pressure off overburdened medical staff.

The Queen's Court and Green Mountain Manuscripts, discovered in the early 19th century, were considered seminal texts during the Czech National Revival. Thought to provide evidence of the earliest medieval writing in the Czech language, they were regarded as founding texts for the nation and acquired an almost sacred status. It was only 70 years later that they were shown to be fakes – although the people generally regarded to have been the forgers never confessed to writing them.