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The Moravian town of Nové Město is renaming a street on its main square in honour of a Jewish family whose tragic fate featured in the international bestseller Hana’s Suitcase. The tribute comes ahead of the anniversary of the death of the only family member to have survived the Holocaust – who was denied a Czech state honour due to an unrelated political spat.

Charges have been dropped against four Czech Army officers in connection with the mysterious death of an Afghan, the news site Ekonomický Deník reported. The individual concerned, Wahidullah Khan, seems to have been responsible for shooting Czech dead soldier Tomáš Procházka in Shindand, Afghanistan last year.

Archaeologists carrying out research at the famous 14th century “bone church” near the Czech town of Kutná Hora have announced a unique discovery. While excavating the site in the vicinity of the medieval ossuary, they came across 34 mass graves with 1,200 skeletons, most of which belong to the victims of the Black Death and famine. Experts say it is the biggest find of its kind in Europe.

This week’s release of the Czech Security Information Service’s (BIS) annual report was widely covered by Czech media and even some foreign outlets. What stood out was the considerable amount of detail that the public version contained on Russian and Chinese spying operations in the country last year. So what are these two states up to? And what are their reasons?

Incoming European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen's new team of commissioners was confirmed in office by a vote of the European Parliament on Wednesday. The EC’s first female president promised a transformation that would touch “every part of the EU’s society and economy”, with the fight against climate change at the top of her list.

The murky death of Jan Masaryk in 1948 has been back in the news recently, after the discovery of fresh evidence prompted the reopening of the case. The new investigation is welcomed by Masaryk’s great-niece Charlotta Kotik, who says that if he had wished to kill himself he would have done it in his characteristic style.

A group of historians, educators and archivists – including from Czech Radio – has rolled out a digital app designed to stimulate students’ interest in using primary sources. The overall aim of the HistoryLab project is to develop students’ historical literary and critical thinking, and help teachers craft interactive, multimedia lesson plans.

The 1966 film Daisies by Věra Chytilová has come sixth in an extensive new BBC poll of the 100 greatest works by female directors. But what makes the surreal, anarchic Czechoslovak New Wave film such a classic? I discussed Daisies with journalist Hynek Pallas, who wrote a description of it for the BBC project.

The number of induced abortions in the Czech Republic has dropped by nearly 20 percent over the past five years. While in 2014, the Institute of Health Information and Statistics recorded a little below 22,000 induced abortions, last year it was only 18,300. One of the reasons is that an increasing number of Czechs are planning their parenthood.

One of the oldest pieces of art in the world, the Venus of Dolní Věstonice, will go on display for the first time in five years. Visitors of the Regional Museum of Olomouc will be able to view the clay statue in a special high security glass box from Wednesday.