Among events in Prague marking the imminent 90th anniversary of Václav Havel’s birth is an exhibition showcasing letters the then dissident sent his wife during a lengthy spell in a communist jail. The often philosophical correspondence was collected in the book Letters to Olga, which became one of Havel’s best-known publications

How did people record their journeys four hundred years ago, and how do illustrators do it today? A new exhibition by the LUSTR illustration and comics festival at Prague’s Star Summer Palace brings together historical travel diaries, maps and drawings from the Czech National Library with work by contemporary illustrators. I went to have a look and spoke to curator Barbora Müllerová.

Hop harvesting is coming to a close in the Czech Republic, and most growers say it has not been a good year. Prolonged drought and extreme heat have led to a poor harvest. Could climate change threaten the quality of one of the country's best-known export products?

Czech man Pavel Hlava captured on video both the first and second planes hitting the World Trade Centre in New York on September 11, 2001. It was only some time later that the he realised the importance of his footage.

Otto Jelinek, who was born in Prague but spent almost all of his life in Canada, has died at the age of 86. Jelinek was a world champion figure skater for Canada, became a government minister – and later in life served as his adopted country’s ambassador to the Czech Republic.

A rare fragment containing part of the Gospel of Saint Mark has left Prague for the first time in almost 700 years. Brought to the Czech lands by Charles IV, the fragment has now returned to Italy, where it will be reunited with the other surviving parts of the manuscript.

Valerie and Her Week of Wonders, Jaromil Jireš’s famous 1970 film based on Vítězslav Nezval’s novel, premiered in a newly restored version at the Venice Film Festival on Monday. The poetic, dreamlike film, blending Gothic horror, surrealism and coming-of-age story, is also competing in the Venice Classics section.  We spoke about the film, its making and its reception with Michal Bregant, Director of the National Film Archive.

A survey in Šumava National Park has uncovered 200 barrels containing hazardous chemicals and around 1,000 tonnes of contaminated soil at a former military training area used by the Czechoslovak army. A clean-up operation is being launched that will cost millions of crowns and is expected to take several years.

This Tuesday marks the 185th anniversary of the birth of Antonín Dvořák, one of the Czech music greats. To mark the occasion, the Antonín Dvořák Museum is giving visitors a rare chance to see one of his original manuscripts, the autograph score of his opera The Jacobin. Ruth Fraňková went to see it.

Czech tennis star Linda Nosková continues to go from the strength to strength. On Sunday, the 21-year-old Wimbledon champion beat Marta Kostyuk in dramatic style to reach the quarter-finals of another Grand Slam, the US Open, for the first time.