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Celebrations marking the centenary of the birth of Czechoslovakia on October 28, 1918 are taking place not only in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, but also among Czech and Slovak communities the world over. From London to Chicago, Czechs and Slovaks are highlighting an event in their common history that put them on the road to independence.

Thursday is the 50th anniversary of perhaps the most famous protest in the history of Czech sport, when gymnast Věra Čáslavská looked away while the Soviet anthem was played at the 1968 Olympics. The brave gesture came two months after the Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia – and cost the country’s greatest Olympian dear.

An amendment on animal welfare drafted by the Czech Ministry of Agriculture could foreshadow the end of traditional circuses in the country. If it is approved by Parliament, circuses in the Czech Republic could no longer train or parade wild animals, such as tigers, lions or bears.

An Afghan soldier opened fire on a Czech military vehicle on Monday, killing one and injuring two more members of the Czech military mission in Afghanistan. The attack is just the latest incident that has claimed Czech soldiers’ lives and the prime minister has called for more effective countermeasures.

Countless events will take place around the Czech Republic next weekend marking the anniversary of the foundation of Czechoslovakia on October 28, 1918. In Prague the centenary celebrations will include the official reopening of the main National Museum building after major renovations. However, that is just one of many things that locals and visitors can look forward to, organiser Vladimír Bláha told me.

Czech tennis player Radek Štěpánek has bid a final farewell to his career. And the two-time Davis Cup winner has officially hung up his racket in spectacular style – with enormous international and Czech sports stars attending his exhibition event at a sold-out 02 Arena in Prague on Thursday.

Prime Minister Andrej Babiš has gone back on a promise to implement a Code of Ethics for cabinet ministers, instructing the Ministry of Justice to stop work on draft guidelines and focus instead on a new lobbying law. Advocates for greater transparency in government see it as a blow to the fight against corruption.

Bilateral relations with Moscow have been strained since Brussels imposed sweeping sanctions following the Russian occupation and later annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula in 2014. EU individual and corporate sanctions have since been expanded and extended numerous times, and are now due to remain in place at least until 15 March 2019. In the meantime, the Czech government is now moving to establish a normal working relationship.

Little over a week before the centenary of the establishment of Czechoslovakia, a freshly released film brings the state’s founder to the big screen. Talks with T.G. Masaryk reconstructs a single conversation between the “father of the nation” and writer Karel Čapek, another symbol of the First Republic era.

A new electric scooter sharing system in Prague, implemented only three weeks ago, has already met with some raised eyebrows across the capital. Many locals complain they are dangerous and take up space on the pavement. Meanwhile the City Hall, which did not hesitate to ban Segways in the past, says the operators need to work more closely with local districts.