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Since the Velvet Revolution the Czech real estate market has experienced enormous development. Now experts claim that all major changes are over and prices of new apartments should stay stable. Even Czech accession to the European Union, they say, should not bring anything new.

The Prague City Court on Thursday ruled on the biggest case of fraud in the country's history. The judge sent the founder of the bankrupt construction company H-system Petr Smetka to 12 years in prison for defrauding some 1,200 clients of 1.2 billion crowns - leaving them penniless and without a roof over their heads.

Mild weather and perfect conditions over the past few days have brought renewed opportunity for professional and amateur bird-watchers in the Czech Republic to observe an incredible sight: thousands of wild northern geese that have been wintering at the extensive Nove Mlyny reservoir. Found in the Breclav region in southern Moravia, the site has become a traditional home away from home for geese from all over northern Europe and northern Russia. An added attraction this year has been an increased count of an amazing 34, 000 birds.

In the last couple of years increasing numbers of ambulance workers and doctors in the Czech Republic have been physically attacked by aggressive patients. In an effort to combat this disturbing phenomenon, Czech hospitals have begun introducing special measures to prevent such attacks. On Thursday, Prague's Vinohrady hospital presented a model of a new type of high-security doctor's consulting room.

Since the fall of communism in 1989 the Czech Republic has enjoyed an inflow of tourists from all over the world. Even so, it has taken the country a long time to develop a unified concept on promoting tourism. The Ministry for Regional Development is now trying to improve the situation. On Wednesday, the Ministry's Czech Tourist Authority helped nine Czech towns to introduce their brand new project luring tourists to visit fortified towns.

The government has unveiled plans to invite Iraqi experts Czech Republic for training, as part of the country's programme for the reconstruction and renewal of Iraq. It's hoped the experts will be able to help Czech firms win lucrative tenders in the country when they return to Iraq.

The Czech Republic is not the only place in the world where you can get a sense of Czech culture. Czech Centers exist all around the world, and the one in New York has recently opened an exhibit dedicated to the famous Czech composer Antonin Dvorak. Born in modest circumstances in the central Bohemian town of Nelahozeves in 1841, the composer remains an iconic figure in classical music today. His influence in North America began in 1892 when he accepted the post of director of the newly established National Conservatory of Music in New York City.

It has emerged this week that a Czech man who is to receive the Order of the British Empire from Queen Elizabeth II on Friday has been lying about his war record for almost 60 years. Jan Horal, who is 81, has claimed since the end of World War II that he flew in Britain's RAF, and for the Canadian Air Force in Africa. It turns out, however, that he actually served in the Czechoslovak Brigade tank division. Despite Mr Horal's lies many people have been quick to defend him, pointing to the great work he has done to help veterans over the years. Petr

Prague looks set to follow Paris and Madrid with its very own museum devoted to the great surrealist artist, Salvador Dali. The architect chosen for the task is none other than Daniel Libeskind, who has won international acclaim for his Jewish Museum in Berlin, and plans for the Ground Zero site in New York. The Polish-born American architect was in Prague this week to visit the Dali Museum site and promote the project.

For the first time since he stepped down as Czech President, Vaclav Havel has appeared before journalists to comment on the political scene. Speaking in front of a crowd of hand-picked journalists in a downtown café in Prague on Tuesday, the former president talked about more than just Czech events in the past year.