GALLERY: This week's headlines for Czechia in 10 photos

FLOATING MUSIC FRIDAY|A unique floating stage was installed at Slovanský Island this week, for Friday's upcoming Concert for Europe which honors the Czech presidency. For the first time in history, the Czech Philharmonic will play on the Vltava River, Ludwig van Beethoven's Ode to Joy, Smetana's Vltava, Dvořák's Carnival, and Leoš Janáček's Glagolitic Mass. The performance begins at 7 p.m.

TENNIS TRIUMPH|Czech tennis players Lucie Hradecká and Linda Nosková beat Venus and Serena Williams at the U.S. Open women’s doubles in the first round on Thursday at Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York City. A crowd of 23,859 fans gave the Williams sisters a standing ovation.

DEMOCRACY RECOGNIZED|The Forum 2000 international conference awarded Chinese female journalist and former lawyer Zhang Zhan, who was convicted and imprisoned in her homeland over her articles highlighting the development of the Covid pandemic in China, an award for courage this week.

BACK TO SCHOOL|Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala welcomed first graders in Ostrava back to school on Sept. 1 with the gift of a book.

"When I entered the first grade, I was most looking forward to learning to read well and quickly. That's why I gave the first-graders in Ostrova a book as a gift and encouraged them to read as many such books as possible soon and to look forward to school every day," Fiala Tweeted.

FIREHOUSE EQUALITY|Michaela Žďárská joined the fire station in Prague's Holešovice this week as the first woman in a field unit. In the Czech Republic, women have so far only been able to fight fires as volunteers. Czechia is behind other countries, Vladimír Vlček, director general of Czech Fire Service (HZS ČR), said.

ZEMAN SIGNS FOR NATO|President Miloš Zeman signed the ratification documents for the entry of Finland and Sweden into the North Atlantic Treaty Alliance on Wednesday. The lower and upper houses of the Czech parliament approved the NATO enlargement by the two countries in the past weeks.

MORE PRAGUE ZOO BABIES|A long-nosed potoroo was born for the first time in the Prague Zoo, the zoo announced this week in a press release. The tiny marsupial named Krysánek, native to eastern Australia, peeked out of its mother's pouch last week. 

HISTORIC BELL ARRIVAL|The #9801 memorial bell, cast in Austria in remembrance of the many church bells that were melted down by the Nazis during World War II, was unveiled on a pontoon at the Smetana embankment in the Prague center this week.

MURAL MAGIC|A new large-scale mural has appeared on Vršovická Street near the Bohemians stadium in place of a demolished building that once housed a casino and pawnshop. The Bohemians Praha 1905 new mural was painted by the street art artist ChemiS. The mural features scenes from the history of the club and commemorates 90 years of Bohemians. The unveiling took place on Tuesday, Aug. 31.

MODELS AT THE CASTLE|On Monday, Aug. 30, 2021, the Spanish Hall of Prague Castle hosted 20 finalists of the Schwarzkopf Elite Model Look 2021 competition for the Czech and Slovak Republics. The Elite Model Look competition is the most prestigious modeling competition in the world, in which hundreds of thousands of applicants from more than 30 countries apply every year.