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A report in the newspaper Mlada Fronta Dnes containing details of plans to modernise the Prague Castle complex caused a minor stir this week. The paper claimed the plans included everything from new shops and restaurants to a hairdressers and even a branch of McDonald's! The article hasn't gone down well with the President's Office, which has accused the paper of blowing things out of proportion. Chancellor Jiri Weigl is the Head of the President's Office.

In August of 2002 devastating floods swept through the Czech Republic leaving behind a trail of destruction and despair. You could hear a pin drop this week as an audience of EU representatives, investors and town hall officials watched a video documenting the post-flood operations. Nevertheless, the occasion was a happy one - marking the end of flood repair work. Czech officials expressed gratitude for the EU's generous and speedy support during and after the crisis- and the head of the EU delegation to the Czech Republic Mr. Ralf Dreyer commended

Holocaust Remembrance Day is marked around Europe on January 27, the anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz death camp. Here in Prague the day has been marked by the country's first ever performance of the Song of Terezin, an oratorio written by the German-American composer Franz Waxman which is based on poems written by children imprisoned at the Terezin ghetto (known in German as Theresienstadt). The performance, co-sponsored by Czech and Austrian agencies, took place on Tuesday afternoon at the State Opera. A day before the premiere

British stag parties careering noisily through the streets have become an increasingly common sight in Prague. These male drinking groups are evidently attracted by the cheap beer on sale in the Czech capital, among other things. We have a look at this growing phenomenon.

A new book called "Can You Hear Us?" is about to hit book shelves in the Czech Republic. Its author Pavla Gomba, head of the Czech branch of UNICEF, has lent her voice to those who have trouble making themselves heard: victims of famine, AIDS and poverty in Africa and Asia. In the book Mrs. Gomba tells the life stories of 3 people whom she encountered during her working visits to this part of the world. It is a book that portrays not only the suffering but also the hope and courage of those for whom life is a daily fight for survival. At the book

Last week, the Governmental Board on Coordination of Drug Policy in the Czech Republic published data from the European School Survey on Alcohol and Other Drugs, revealing that every second Czech sixteen-year-old has got some experience with drugs. Not much to be proud of. Even so there are some positive improvements.

Last week we reported from the Czech Republic's second city of Brno on a major festival devoted to the Czech composer, Leos Janacek. But the festival isn't the only event under way in the city related to the Moravian capital's greatest musical son. This year is the 150th anniversary of the composer's birth, and on Friday two new exhibitions opened in Brno, devoted to Leos Janacek. David Vaughan spoke with the director of Brno's House of the Arts, Jitka Vitaskova.

What is your opinion of modern architecture? Geometric slabs of concrete, white stuccoed flat-roofed buildings that go mouldy after a decade. Wherever you are in the world you may have formed your opinion on the architectural movement that was later deemed "the international style". Its practical advantages prompted its rapid development worldwide, although it was certainly not to everyone's liking. Today, the Prague Castle Imperial Stables are opening their exhibit of Stuttgart 1927 - A Vision of Modern Style.

The Czech Republic is no longer considered a transit country by illegal migrants. Statistics released by the Czech Foreign Police earlier this week, suggest that the number of people attempting to cross the borders into Germany and Austria illegally has decreased, while the number of foreigners staying in the country without residence permits is on the rise. Dita Asiedu has more:

The well-known polling agency TNS Factum recently completed the latest chapter in an on-going study mapping Czechs' relationship to advertising in the media. The poll, which began over a decade ago, traditionally asks how Czechs feel about ads - whether they feel there is over-saturation in the media, what standards they expect, how they feel about the display of sex, and whether or not they are ultimately influenced by the ads when they go to the store.