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A senior member of the U.S. military - vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Peter Pace - visited Prague this week, for talks with Czech colleagues that covered Afghanistan, Iraq and reform of the Czech armed forces. General Pace had warm words of praise for his Czech hosts, particularly for the reputation of Czech peace-keeping operations around the world.

Almost a year ago, the Czech Republic made headlines around the world when it was hit by the worst flooding in hundreds of years. To mark the anniversary, a new book of photographs of the devastation caused by the floods has been published. The book's called Prague Underwater, and among the photographers who contributed to it was Jitka Podzimkova, of Radio Prague's Internet department.

High summer, the time of holidays and travelling, has for the past few years been a time of uncertainty for many Czech holidaymakers. It is precisely at this time of year that travel agencies are most likely to go bust. Last week it transpired that the country's biggest travel empire, Fischer, considered a safe bet by many, had accumulated 400 million crowns in unpaid debt; two of its companies went into administration. Now, the owner Vaclav Fischer says he has found a strategic investor to help save his travel empire from collapse.

While foreign investment has made an impact on many areas of business in this country since 1989, few sectors have been as affected as the print media, with over 80 percent of Czech newspapers now in the hands of foreign media groups, mostly from Germany and Switzerland. Perhaps unsurprisingly, some Czechs find this situation disquieting. I discussed the issue of foreign ownership with Marius Dragomir, who covers the media for the Prague Business Journal..

Franz Ulrich Kinsky - a member of an aristocratic family with long roots in Bohemia - has filed a total of 150 lawsuits asking the Czech courts to confirm that he is the rightful owner of large amounts of property which were confiscated from him as a child after the war. So far he's won five of the suits and lost four. The Czech authorities argue his father had been a Nazi sympathiser before the war, and so under the post-war Benes decrees, it was right to confiscate the property. But speaking by telephone from his home in Argentina, Franz Kinsky

If you think you're having a bad week at work, spare a thought for the country's president, Vaclav Klaus. Last week he was taken to hospital - doctors say he's working too hard and must slow down. On Wednesday the president's spokesman announced he was quitting after just five months in the job. And finally, when it seemed things couldn't get any worse, diplomats appear to have confirmed reports that U.S. President George W. Bush has "no interest" in meeting his Czech counterpart.

The Roman Catholic bishop of Prague Vaclav Maly has returned from a week-long visit to Belarus, a country whose authoritarian regime is often criticised by human rights campaigners from around the world. Bishop Vaclav Maly, himself a former human rights activist, travelled to Belarus to inspect the human rights situation in the post-Soviet country.

The Labour and Social Affairs Ministry has launched a project aimed at attracting foreign workers to the Czech Republic on a permanent basis. Foreigners who wish to settle here with their families should - in theory - find it easier to do so. A country with an aging population and a declining birth rate needs new blood - and the government is taking steps to ease the way.

The Czech Tourist Authority has launched a campaign to encourage Czechs not to go abroad on their holidays but rather spend their vacations in the many remarkable places their home country has to offer. As part of the "Beautiful Country" project, Czech celebrities are cycling 1,500 km to encourage people to "discover home".

Alois Grebenicek, a former Communist secret police officer accused of torturing political prisoners in the 1950s, has died in hospital at the age of 81. His passing has closed the file on a highly publicized court case that dragged out for six long years but never really started.