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Czech firms should soon find it easier to get a foothold on the Vietnamese market: on Monday, on an official visit with his wife to the Czech Republic, President Truong Tan Sang confirmed that Vietnam will lift existing administrative barriers. Those hampered trade for Czech firms until now.

Czech president Miloš Zeman’s Moscow trip on Saturday was closely observed at home and abroad. And while the head of state did not witness the massive military parade in Red Square, he courted fresh controversy with comments that sanctions against Russia could be relaxed by the end of the year.

The British vote in general elections today which most polls predict will be too close to call. Almost certainly, no single party, neither Labour nor the Conservatives, will end up having a majority on their own in the lower house of parliament. Immigration and Britain’s future membership of the European Union have been prominent issues for voters and for the many Czechs now living and working in the country.

It has emerged that Czech police last week thwarted a planned attack on a train carrying military equipment from Prague to west Bohemia. The plot to blow up the train, one of a number of attacks hatched by left-wing radicals, allegedly came dangerously close to completion. Three men now face life sentences on charges of terrorism. I asked security expert Andor Šandor about the state of left-wing extremism in the country and how serious a threat it presents.

A special Maori ritual was held in front of the Gallery of West Bohemia in Pilsen on Tuesday at the opening of an exhibition of Maori portraits by Pilsen-born painter Gottfried Lindauer. The artist, who was born in Pilsen in 1839, is largely unknown in the Czech Republic, but his pictures have become part of New Zealand’s national cultural heritage. The exhibition is being held in the framework of Pilsen- European Capital of Culture 2015 and what makes it exceptional is that the valuable portraits have never before been allowed to leave New Zealand’s

The Agency for Social Inclusion is the Czech government’s main tool for tackling some of the country’s poorest and most deprived localities, which are often synonymous with large Roma populations. But in recent weeks the agency itself has grabbed the spotlight and its future one of the main problems to be solved.

The city of Plzeň has this week been celebrating the 70th anniversary of the end of the Second World War. The West Bohemian industrial city was liberated by US units commanded by the legendary George S. Patton as well as Belgian soldiers attached to the US army.

A memorial ceremony was held in front of Czech Radio on Tuesday marking the 70th anniversary of the start of the Prague Uprising. There was a fierce battle for control of the station during the insurgence, which saw thousands of Czechs take up arms against the Nazi occupiers in the dying days of the war.

Events marking the end of WW II are taking place around the country. Czech Radio, located in Prague’s Vinohrady district, played an important role in the Prague Uprising and a raging battle took place outside the radio building as citizens responded to a desperate radio appeal for them to help defend the station. On the 70th anniversary of the Battle for Czech Radio the country’s public broadcaster has organized a series of events for the public. Czech Radio’s spokesman Jiri Hošna explains what will be taking place.

On Friday, Expo 2015 gets underway in Italy’s Milan and the Czech pavilion is ready to open its door to the public. The main theme this year is “Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life.” When I spoke to Expo’s Czech commissioner, Jiří František Potužník, I started by asking how this theme was reflected in the Czech exhibition: