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A new long-distance hiking trail has recently opened in the Czech Republic. Cesta Českem or Czechia Trail leads along the country’s northern borders from the westernmost point to the so-called Trojmezí, a point at which the Czech, Polish and Slovak borders meet. It measures 1,000 kilometres and takes approximately 40 days to complete, its creators say.

The Czech Customs Administration is currently training six dogs to assist in detecting people infected with Covid-19. After the training, which should be completed by the end of the year, the dogs could be used at Prague Airport as well in seniors’ homes around the country.

Many schools across the Czech Republic are still struggling to implement effective online learning programmes, despite lessons learned during the Covid-19 first wave. A big concern is that the digital gap among students has yet to be bridged. People in Need, a Czech humanitarian aid NGO that assists vulnerable communities, is calling for future teachers – those now studying at pedagogical faculties – to step in to help tutor children.

In late October a fire virtually destroyed a 17th century wooden church in Prague’s Kinsky Gardens that had been transported from Carpathian Ruthenia in 1929. Plans are already afoot to rebuild the Church of St. Michael – and a highly detailed 3D image created by US photographer Jeffrey Martin could provide a great deal of help in that regard. I asked him about his model – and his connection to the church.

Jara Dušátko has been teaching Czech for over two decades at Stanford University in California and is also president of the San Francisco branch of Sokol, the Czech gymnastics and sports organisation. Recently Mrs. Dušátko was honoured with the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Gratias Agit award for promoting the good name of the Czech Republic internationally. I spoke to her from her home near San Francisco and began by asking why she had left Czechoslovakia, where she was a teacher of Czech and Russian.

Despite the Czech Republic currently being in the grips of the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic, people remain quite active in some parts of the country. At least according to anonymous movement data gathered by T-Mobile and analysed by a supercomputer at the Technical University of Ostrava. It shows that there are significant differences depending on the region.

The annual festival Made in Prague organised by Czech Centre London is currently underway in Britain, bringing the best of Czech film, visual arts and music to the UK audience. I discussed the event with the head of Czech Centre London, Přemysl Pela, and I first asked him to explain the title, which this year comes with a postscript On/Off.

On November 8, 1620, a major clash took place outside Prague between the Imperial Army of Emperor Ferdinand II. and those of the Bohemian Revolt. It would become known in history as the Battle of the White Mountain (Bílá hora). In a relatively short time the battle decided the fate of the Czech lands for the next three centuries. It was also the first clash between Protestant and Catholic armies in what would become a continent changing European conflict.

More than half of the Czech Republic’s biotopes are endangered, including peat bogs, marshlands and fens, Czech scientists have found. To raise awareness of the problem, they have put together the country’s first red list endangered biotopes.

From Monday the Czech Republic will classify virtually all other EU states as either medium or high risk on its “traffic light” map. This means people entering the country from most other members will need to enter quarantine or provide a negative Covid-19 test.