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After four days, firefighters in the Bohemian Switzerland National Park are still struggling to get a large-scale forest fire under control. Now the felling of trees has begun with the aim of stopping the spread of the flames.

The fire raging in the Bohemian Switzerland National Park is the worst in the country’s modern history. Over 1,000 hectares of forestland have been destroyed by the blaze, which is still not under control. How much damage has been done to the biotope and how long may it take to recover? Those are questions I put to environment expert Vojtěch Kotecký.

Hundreds of firefighters continue to battle an extensive forest fire in the Bohemian Switzerland National Park. The blaze, which broke out in hard to access terrain on Sunday morning, was fanned by a strong wind and has now ravaged some 30 hectares of forestland. By Tuesday morning the smell of the smoke had spread nearly all over the country.

A photo of Emil Zátopek kissing wife Dana Zátopková after winning Olympic gold in his first ever marathon – on July 27, 1952 – is a key image in athletics history. It also means a great deal to Swiss journalist Melanie Pfändler, who says that according to family lore it was taken by her grandfather. I spoke to Pfändler ahead of the 70th anniversary of the race that helped make Zátopek an all-time great.

For the first time, two unique documents about the events surrounding the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich in May 1942 can be seen at the National Museum in Prague. They have been on display since Thursday as part of the special exhibition ‘We Will Never Give Up!’, which is being held as part of the 80th anniversary celebrations of Operation Anthropoid.

One of the world’s rarest collections of moldavites – precious, bottle-green gemstones, found almost exclusively on the territory of Czechia – is due to be auctioned in Prague this week. The collection contains over 34,300 pieces and its value is estimated at over CZK 200 million.

I Killed This Song at Karaoke Last Night is a joint album released by Gustav Brom Czech Radio Big Band and singer Dan Bárta. It contains cover versions of eight famous songs, from the hit Human by indie-rockers The Killers to a new version of the legendary Pramínek vlasů by Jiří Suchý.

The demolition work at a former pig farm at Lety in South Bohemia that was the site of a concentration camp for Romanies during the Second World War was officially launched on Friday. A new memorial to the Holocaust of Romanies and Sinti in the Czech Lands will be built on the site and should partly open to the public already next year.

The Czech government announced this week that it will be entering negotiations with the United States about the possible purchase of F35 fighter jets. The Ministry of Defence says that it is hoping to secure two squadrons – around 24 aircraft – worth dozens of billions of crowns, which would quite possibly make this the most expensive purchase in Czech Army history. The negotiations are set to be concluded by October next year. I asked defence expert Matúš Halás, from the Institute of International Affairs in Prague, what he makes of this decision.

Czechia is a popular destination for foreign students, according to a university-wide survey conducted by the Czech National Agency for International Education and Research. Many of those who choose to study at Czech universities also end up finding work and staying in Czechia after they graduate. The field of international students is also becoming more diverse than in past years.