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The Oscar-winning Czech film director Jiří Menzel has died at the age of 82 after a long illness. His wife Olga Menzelová posted the news on Facebook late on Sunday.

Menzel won an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1967 with "Closely Watched Trains", a World War II drama based on a novel by the Czech writer Bohumil Hrabal.

Born on 23 February 1938, Menzel studied film direction at Prague’s Film and TV School of Performing Arts FAMU. In the 1960s he became one of the leading figures of the Czech New Wave, alongside directors such as Miloš Forman or Věra Chytilová.

His collaboration with Hrabal, which included "Cutting It Short" and "Larks on a String" proved to be one of the major hallmarks of his career. The latter, considered by many his masterpiece, was banned by the Communists and only released after the fall of communism in 1989.

Menzel, who continued to make films into the new millennium, won a number of awards, including a Czech Lion for lifetime artistic contribution and a Medal of Merit, the French Order of Arts and Literature.

Renowned Czech pianist Ivo Kahánek is due to perform at Prague’s Rudolfinum Concert Hall on Sunday night. The pianist, who recently won a BBC Music Magazine Award for his recording of Dvořák’s Piano Concerto, will give a recital featuring three major piano works by the famous Czech composer.

The 13th edition of Dvořák‘s Prague festival takes place without foreign guests and visitors are required to follow strict hygienic measures, including the wearing of face masks. Among the biggest domestic stars this year are pianist Lukáš Vondráček and conductor Jakub Hrůša. The festival runs until September 20.

President Miloš Zeman will not be inviting the Speaker of the Senate Miloš Vystrčil to the meetings of top constitutional officials concerning foreign policy of the state. Mr Zeman made the statement in an interview for TV Prima on Sunday.

Mr Zeman called the Senate delegation to Taiwan led by Mr. Vystrčil a childish provocation, adding that Mr. Vystrčil didn’t respect the rules or the majority opinion of the senior officials.

The Czech head of state also said that while he understood China’s disagreement with the Czech trip to Taiwan, the threats from Chinese authorities were not acceptable.

Sunday’s interview for TV prima was Mr Zeman’s first public appearance since he broke his arm at the end of August.

Chinese embassy in Prague has called the Czech delegation to Taiwan led by Senate speaker Miloš Vystrčil a serious breach of China’s national sovereignty and gross interference in China’s internal affairs.

In a written statement to the Czech News Agency, the embassy called on the Czech Republic to observe the policy of one China, asking the government to take necessary steps in order to maintain a stable development of Czech-Chinese relations.

Senate chairman and speaker Miloš Vystrčil headed a 90-member delegation to Taiwan to strengthen bilateral ties and trade despite fierce protest from China and sharp criticism from some Czech officials.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Tomáš Petříček, reacted to China’s criticism by saying that it was the Czech government, not the Speaker of the Senate, who was in charge of the Czech Republic’s foreign policy. He also said the country’s policy toward China, defined in the 1990’s, has remained unchanged.