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Karel Kryl is considered by many to be the greatest Czech folk singer ever to have lived. He was the voice of a generation, with this song - ‘Bratříčku, zavírej vrátka’ - becoming an anthem of protest against the Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968. Kryl, who died 15 years ago this week, continues to enjoy a massive popularity in this country. One of the first people to spot his talent was DJ and music critic Jiří Černý:

Over 170 years after it was created, Antonín Langweil’s unique and remarkable cardboard model of Prague has just been unveiled in a new form – a digital version which means users can get a taste of the city as it was in the early 19th century on a computer screen.

Radio Free Iraq, part of Prague-based Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, has begun broadcasting from the station’s new headquarters. Located on Hagibor Plain, on the outskirts of town, the brand new facility will soon become the hub of all of Radio Free Europe’s operations in 20 countries, including such hotspots as Iraq and Afghanistan. In this week’s Panorama, we’ll take a closer look at the radio station, its role in the present-day and its new headquarters.

The trailer for the 2007 Karlovy Vary Film Festival is a highly kinetic and graphic introduction told through various typefaces. It was also the first – and so far the last – break with the festival’s traditional practice of using directed pieces with actors. The ad is exemplified by several things at once: immaculate decorum, for one – it is about film and nothing but film. Hyper-minimalism for another: the entire video uses exactly five words: “Karlovy”, “Vary”, “International”, “Film”, “Festival”. And last, symbolism and sound effects that convey

On Thursday evening the young journalist Jan Gebert received an award from the European Commission’s “For Diversity. Against Discrimination” campaign. The Czech national prize is for a piece he wrote for the magazine Reflex about Mongolian factory workers in a small town in Moravia. Though the article was published last year, the subject is topical, with the problems posed by rising unemployment among foreign workers making headlines recently.

In the days and weeks that followed the end of the Second World War, 31-year-old Josefina Napravilová noticed that there was a job that needed to be done and without any fuss set about doing it. It was a time of chaos – families had been broken up and the lists of missing persons were frighteningly long. Many of those on the lists were children. Through sheer determination and endless detective work, Josefina Napravilová managed to reunite several dozen of these children with their families. For decades, Josefina saw no particular reason to tell

Prague is renowned for its beer halls and pubs, but not so famous for its wine-bars. All this week, however, a brand new festival is taking place to try and get Czechs and tourists alike off the beer, and onto the wine. Prague Wine Week started on Monday and will culminate in a tasting session of more than 300 wines on Friday evening. Šárka Dušková is the festival’s organizer:

One thing that was not cultivated in communist Czechoslovakia was the art of public speaking. Anyone of a certain age will remember the endless monologues of party secretaries, but twenty years on, there is a growing awareness of the importance of public debate. Many young Czechs with an interest in politics have followed with fascination the political sparring that goes on in Britain’s parliament, and with this in mind, the British Chamber of Commerce in Prague recently organized a debate, taking the British parliament as its model. It was the

Pop star Miro Žbirka, nicknamed Meky, is one of Slovakia’s and the Czech Republic’s best-known recording artists, still producing music after more than 30 years. In the 1980s he bumped Karel Gott off his perch as Czechoslovakia’s top singer and even had the opportunity to record in then-West Germany. Fans will no doubt be excited about this week’s release of Like a Hero – The Best of Miro, Žbirka’s re-mastering of his greatest hits a remarkable project which was first recorded in English in Germany in the ‘80s.

The Czech Republic is going to increase the number of troops deployed next year in Afghanistan, although Czech lawmakers are yet to approve the Defence Ministry’s plans for the Czech Provincial and Reconstruction Team. To show what the army and civilian experts actually do in the Afghan province of Logar, Defence Minister Vlasta Parkanová has organized a new photo exhibition in the lobby of the Czech Parliament’s lower house.