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Petr Uhl, a co-founder of the Charter 77 human rights movement along with Václav Havel and among the longest-imprisoned dissidents under the communist regime, has died at the age of 80. Although a lifelong leftist, Petr Uhl never joined the party and was among the most vocal opponents of the Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia and the persecution of political activists. The dissident, journalist and later politician was widely respected for the courage of his convictions.

The Bookfeeding Project is an association aimed at establishing educational hubs and libraries in disadvantaged communities worldwide. Although it has an impressive network of libraries and community centres it is driven by big dreams and a strong, selfless desire to help. I spoke to its co-founder Alena Machálková about how the project works, what it has achieved and her hopes for the future.

A new exhibition focusing on the indigo blue-dyeing tradition in the Czech Republic and Japan is currently underway at the Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague. Called Fashion in Blue, it presents the genesis of the blueprint technology in the East and West and examines how it is used in contemporary fashion and art.

Special equipment now being developed at the Brno University of Technology should soon help ensure the success of deep space missions. The researchers have created a thermal switch that can regulate heat in probes or satellites. While that may sound simple, temperatures vary drastically in space. If a single electronic part overheats - or cools – it can jeopardise an entire mission.

Alysa Yamada has been living in Prague for almost eight years now. Like many young American arrivals, she first landed work teaching English. She later got into website copywriting and UX writing – and now has launched Czech Deck, a set of playing cards illustrating some of her favourite aspects of Czech culture, along with “fun facts”, day-trip ideas and some key language phrases.

Theatre director, stage designer and composer Jiří Srnec, founder of the legendary Black Light Theatre, has died in Prague at the age of 90. His unique theatrical group celebrated its first success in 1962 at the Edinburgh Festival in Scotland and has since become famous all around the world.

Czech textile artist Blanka Kolková is one of more than 300 embroiderers from all around the world, who have taken part in the British award-winning Red Dress Project. It was conceived by British artist Kirstie Macleod with the aim to provide artistic platform for women the world over, many of whom are marginalised or live in poverty, to tell their personal stories through embroidery.

As Covid numbers continue to rise, the Czech Health Ministry is pushing for mandatory Covid vaccination for selected professions and people over 60, to be introduced as of next March. The announcement has sparked fierce controversy between the incoming and outgoing administration on how to prevent the epidemic from spiraling out of control.

A century ago, some 400 synagogues stood in what is today the Czech Republic. Scores were destroyed in the lead-up to the Second World War, after Nazi Germany occupied the Sudetenland border region, and scores more during the conflict itself. Even more disappeared under the decades of communist rule that followed. A unique project by the Pardubice-based photographer Štěpán Bartoš, entitled Invisible Synagogues, seeks to document all the “blank spaces” left behind.

President Miloš Zeman appointed Petr Fiala prime minister on Sunday, seven weeks after general elections. Now the head of state says he will spent another fortnight meeting Mr. Fiala’s cabinet nominees – with a clash likely over the candidate for the foreign affairs portfolio. I discussed what happens next, as well as the protracted nature of the process, with political scientist, Jiří Pehe.