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A team of scientists from Charles University and the University of Oxford have developed a new computer translation programme called CUBBITT. After testing how the programme compared with its human counterparts, the team published a paper in the prestigious Nature Communications journal claiming that it challenges the long-held view that computers can’t translate as well as humans. I asked the main author of the study, Martin Popel from Charles University’s Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, why CUBBITT is so significant.

The newly appointed health minister, Roman Prymula, gave his first press briefing in office on Tuesday,  telling Czechs things were likely to get worse before they got better and urging them to  pull together to help overcome the coronavirus crisis. He said there were no plans for a lockdown, but greater discipline and more restrictive measures were inevitable for the effort to succeed.

The northern Moravian town of Kopřivnice this weekend officially launched a public collection to fund a statue of favourite son Emil Zátopek – arguably the greatest distance runner in history – in time for the 100th anniversary of his birth next September.

In a surprise move, the Czech health minister Adam Vojtěch announced his resignation on Monday morning. With numbers reaching unprecedented levels, he said he was going in order to create new space for dealing with the coronavirus crisis. He will be replaced by epidemiologist Roman Prymula, who was the public face of the fight against virus when it first hit the country.

The Czech royal town of Klatovy was founded in the 13th century by King Přemysl Otakar II. It was on an important trade route from Prague to Bavaria in Germany but also gained importance as an important educational center. Members of the Jesuit order came to Klatovy during the Thirty Years’ War in the 17th Century. And they left more than just a few beautiful baroque buildings. One of their legacies is a crypt with dozens of mummified bodies of people who died in the 17th and 18th centuries.

Febiofest – the Prague International Film Festival – gets underway on Friday, the same day a giant of Czech cinema, the director Jiří Menzel, is laid to rest. In his honour, the festival is screening three classic Menzel films, including the Oscar-winner ‘Closely Watched Trains’. Febiofest will also premiere a documentary about another Czech cultural icon, the late singer Karel Gott, alongside screenings of other exceptional films from major festivals in Berlin, Cannes and Venice.

Under a new government plan, some foreigners who wish to stay long-term in the Czech Republic will have to undergo a compulsory integration course from next year. It should introduce participants to various aspects of Czech culture and is partly intended to prevent social isolation and security risks, including terrorism.

The Winternitz Villa in Prague is housing an exhibition titled “No night so dark”. It documents the history of a successful Czech-Jewish family, the Wels’, which was almost completely wiped out during World War Two. The exhibtion, which houses many of the family’s objects and documents that survived the Holocaust, will later move to Germany as well as possibly Britain and the US.

The Association for International Affairs (AMO) has just published its annual “Agenda for Czech Foreign Policy” report. As always, the Prague-based think tank has not only analysed global developments and the role of Czech diplomacy in them, but also laid out recommendations for the direction it should take, given new challenges.

A unique concert is scheduled to take place as part of Prague’s annual Strings of Autumn festival this Saturday. It features the renowned British violinist Daniel Hope, who will perform Max Richter’s famous composition Vivaldi Recomposed. The concert will take place on a floating stage on the Vltava River right in the centre of the city.