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And the winner is: "Harry Potter," and not by a nose. In a nationwide survey of nearly 100,000 people, Czech readers have named the English author J.K. Rowling as having penned their favorite book.

"I am convinced that if we want to save this aspect of European culture, we must change it. If we want to preserve our social security systems, which we have built up over the years, we must adapt to the new economic conditions." Those were the words of the German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder in Prague on Monday. Europe-wide social policy reform was the focus of his visit to the Czech capital.

It is a special time of year in many regions of the Czech Republic when the nights get cooler and the days shorter. It is the time of "vinobrani", wine festivals which mark the harvest of grapes for wine making. Legend has it that these celebrations date back to Roman times, when the first grapes were planted.

Czech mezzo-soprano Magdalena Kozena was named Artist of the Year at the prestigious Gramophone Awards last Friday. The Artist of the Year award is the third Gramophone Award in her collection; in 2001, she was the first Czech solo performer to be honoured for her rendition of love songs by the famous Czech composers Antonin Dvorak, Leos Janacek and Bohuslav Martinu and last year, it was her CD of French Arias that won her the Record of the Month award.

This Wednesday the European Commission is finally going to say whether it believes the European Union should begin accession talks with Turkey. It is of course a sensitive issue which has divided opinion around the continent, though most EU governments seem to be coming round to broadly supporting Turkish membership. But what is the Czech Republic's position?

Col. Jaroslav Sramek was signing autographs for airplane enthusiasts in Prague at the weekend as part of the city's aviation film festival. Col. Sramek is best known as the only Czech pilot to have engaged and shot down an American fighter plane during the Cold War.

On Sunday Pope John Paul II declared five Roman Catholics blessed, adding them to a list of some 1,340 people he has so far put on the road to sainthood. Pope John Paul II has declared more people blessed than all his predecessors combined and in a number of cases his choice has raised controversy. One such figure is also the newly beatified Emperor Karl I, the last monarch to rule in what is now the Czech Republic.

What is being described as the biggest political scandal in years escalated dramatically on Thursday, when police arrested two men connected with the leader of the opposition Civic Democrats. The men have been charged with bribing a coalition MP to bring down the government.

Czech Deputy Foreign Minister Petr Kolar addressed a group of American students in Prague on Thursday on the issue of the European Union's relationship with the United States and on the Czech Republic's dealings with both entities. One of the topics that provoked much discussion was the so-called rift between some countries in the EU and the United States, particularly in relation to the US-led military action in Iraq.

Former Czech President Vaclav Havel and 100 international figures sent an open letter to the heads of all European Union and NATO states this week criticizing President Vladimir Putin for allegedly using the Beslan school tragedy to "further undermine" democracy in Russia. The current Czech President, Vaclav Klaus, has taken a very different stance and in fact came to his Russian counterpart's defense, saying there is no proof that Mr Putin is jailing his political opponents or systematically suppressing freedoms.