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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.

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.

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?

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.

This week the Czech Republic's highly successful Paralympic athletes came home from Athens, with 16 gold medals, 8 silver and seven bronze. One of this country's best all-time Paralympic athletes is Pavla Francova, a former cross-country skier and middle-distance runner. She became blind at the age of fifteen and now at 32, Pavla is an artist, illustrating stories written by disabled people. She doesn't regret giving up her blossoming career in sport.

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.

The Czech Central State Archives are having their fiftieth birthday. And to celebrate, archivists and historians from around the world are participating in a three-day conference that began Wednesday in Prague. Archivist Amy Schmidt was the lone American presenter among the estimated 250 participants.