Czech footballer Petr Čech, considered one of the best goalkeepers of the modern era, was born in the west Bohemian city of Plzeň. His journey to the top of the football world is a fascinating story of determination and talent. He launched his career at the local club Viktoria Plzeň and worked his way up through Chmel Blšany, Sparta Prague and Rennes in France all the way to London’s legendary clubs Chelsea and Arsenal.

What really happens to your waste after you’ve sorted it and dutifully put it in your local recycling container? The Czech Environment Ministry attempted to find out via a unique experiment – at least for one very specific type of rubbish. They put tracking devices on 100 PET bottles and put them in recycling bins in locations all around the country to see where they ended up after three months – and the results were surprising.

Moscow is very likely to blame for a recent failed arson attack on city buses in Prague, the Czech prime minister said on Monday. Petr Fiala said the foiled plot was part of a hybrid war Russia is waging against Czechia. But what can the authorities do to combat this kind of “low level” terrorism?

A newly restored Jawa 750, which appeared at the start of the legendary 1930s race Thousand Miles of Czechoslovakia, was recently unveiled at the National Technical Museum in Prague. This Thursday, the fiery red sports car will take part in the race again, 90 years after its first appearance.

Citizens around Europe are taking stock of the outcome of elections to the European Parliament. How may the results change the direction and policies of the EU? And what do they signal about the domestic situation? I spoke about the outcome of the elections in Czechia and the EU with the deputy director of the Prague-based Europeum Institute  Viktor Daněk.

Like in other EU member states, elections to the European Parliament in Czechia brought a number of surprises. In addition to a record turnout, almost double that ten years ago, many voters came to the polls to cast a protest vote.

In the past 12 years Eva and Rob McLean, who live just outside Prague, have fostered no fewer than 12 children. All of them were new-borns who stayed with the pair for a year. What motivates them to devote so much care to often traumatised infants? How do their own sons feel about sharing their lives and home with a succession of babies? And how hard is it to give the children up after 12 months? I discussed these questions and much more with the Czech-American couple.

The annual Smetana Litomyšl, the second oldest music festival in Czechia and the country's largest classical music festival outside of Prague, gets underway on Saturday. This year’s edition, marking the bicentenary of the birth of Bedřich Smetana, promises to be the biggest in the festival’s history. I discussed the event with its artistic director Marek Šulc:

The Czech Republic has only had two presidencies so far in the course of its membership in the European Union. The first Czech presidency in 2009 was complicated by the fall of the government, when a caretaker cabinet had to step in and complete it. The country’s second stint at the helm of the European Union, in 2022, was much more successful. In the last edition of our series Czechs in the EU, I discuss the country’s performance at the helm of the EU with Viktor Daněk, Deputy Director of the Europeum Institute for European Policy.

The Prague Sounds music festival, which takes place in November and was previously called Strings of Autumn, prides itself on mixing up genres. This year it will feature jazz great Branford Marsalis alongside rather less well-known names in the fields of hip-hop, modern classical and electronic music. I spoke to programmer Guy Borg at an event this week unveiling the 2024 Prague Sounds.