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Most Czechs are still coming to terms with the havoc that this year's floods wrought on their family finances. But the real cost of the floods is way beyond the assessed damage. Czech insurance companies have announced that in the wake of this year's devastating floods they plan to increase insurance rates on property by 15 to 30 % .

Preparations for the November NATO summit in Prague are in full swing, with security issues receiving top priority. This week Czech and US military forces are conducting a military exercise aimed at protecting the skies over the Czech capital.

While a decade ago thousands of young Americans came to spend some time in Prague after graduating from university - and many ended up staying - nowadays a growing number of Americans come to Prague to study while they are still at university. Since 1998, New York University has had a school in the Czech capital, and students usually stay for three or four months. I recently visited NYU in Prague, where I asked associate director Thea Favaloro how much students could learn about the Czech Republic in such a short period.

Terezin - the place that became infamous as a Jewish ghetto in the Second World War - is another historic Czech town that experienced this year's disastrous floods. Among the cultural treasures of Terezin that were severly damaged was Mecca, the Middle European Colony for Contemporary Arts. Although a relative newcomer to the town's cultural scene, Mecca nonetheless plays a very important role in revilitasing Terezin's culture.

The book-fair in the German city of Frankfurt, the largest event of its kind in the world, ended on Monday. Czech publishing houses also presented their wares at the book-fair, under the umbrella of the Svet knihy, or Book-world, company. Alena Skodova has more:

While ten countries, including the Czech Republic, are hoping to join the European Union at the beginning of 2004, a referendum in Ireland, planned for this weekend, could potentially derail or delay the enlargement process. Although few are willing to admit it, the referendum is being watched by the candidate countries with certain uneasiness. Vladimir Tax reports.

On Sunday, the "Poetry Without Borders" festival that has been attracting visitors since 1996 with readings from poetry, discussions, exhibitions and even dance and musical performances, came to a close in the north Moravian town of Olomouc. Among this year's international guests was Pulitzer Prize winner Galway Kinnell. Dita Asiedu reports:

Have you ever wondered what lies behind the Institute of Parasitology in Prague? The Week of Science and Technology that has just started in the Czech Republic will help you to find out and make some scientific discoveries of your own.

Two weeks ago the second incidence of BSE in a month was confirmed in the Czech Republic, this time in a seven year-old cow on a farm outside of Prague. Twenty-five animals were immediately put down, and beef deliveries from the farm were temporarily stopped as a precautionary measure, with authorities from the State Veterinary Office confirming that while they were taking the situation seriously, there was no cause for consumer alarm. Jan Velinger brought this report.

The famous Jewish Museum in Prague re-opened to the public this Tuesday after being closed for two months for repair work following the devastating floods that hit Prague in August. Founded in 1906, it is the third oldest Jewish museum in Central Europe. With its exhibitions spread throughout Prague's historic Jewish quarter, it is one of the biggest tourist attractions in the city. Dita Asiedu spoke to the head of the museum's public relations department, Dr. Jana Smekalova, and started off by asking her in what state the museum was in after the