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The incoming European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso on Thursday unveiled the line-up of the new EU executive, which will take office in November. The former Czech Prime Minister Vladimir Spidla will be responsible for the employment, social affairs and equal opportunities portfolio. Pavla Horakova spoke to the head of the Brussels based think tank, the Centre for European Policy studies, Karel Lannoo, to ask how important Mr Spidla's new portfolio will be in the EU administration.

Czech insurance companies and global re-insurers were hit hard by claims in the wake of the 2002 floods. Insurers have since invested heavily into computerised assessment tools.

August 13th of 2002 is a day that remains firmly etched into people's minds. Exactly two years ago the Czech Republic - and indeed large parts of central Europe - were hit by devastating floods. Here in the Czech Republic 17 people lost their lives, 50, 000 Prague residents were evacuated from their homes, hundreds of people were left homeless and in some cases entire villages lay in ruins.

The Czech Republic is in the grip of Olympic fever. Thousands of Czechs have travelled to Athens for the Olympic games and those who couldn't make the trip are taking days off from work, buying new TV sets and placing bets on the winners. Czech bookmakers predict that the Czech team will be at least as successful as it was in the last games in Sydney -where it won eight medals in all. This year three of the biggest Czech medal hopefuls are the canoeist Stepanka Hilgertova in the wild water slalom, Roman Sebrle, the first person in the world to

With just a few hours to go before the Olympic Games in Athens officially begin, the majority of the 140 athletes in the biggest Czech team ever are already in place and getting ready for the event. General Secretary of the Czech Olympic Committee Vladimir Dostal is there as well, and comments on the atmosphere.

Czechs can take pride in the fact that they were among the pioneers of the modern Olympic movement. Although they missed the first games in 1896, they did take part in Paris in 1900 - thanks in no small part to the work of Jiri Guth, the founder of the Czech Olympic Committee and a close friend of Pierre de Coubertin. At that time they were still part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Since then Czech athletes have come a very long way indeed. We now look back at some memorable Czech moments in Olympic history gone by.

The first draft of the new Czech government's policy agenda — leaked to the press this week — has been criticized by economists and political analysts for promising something to everyone at a time when Prague has committed to reining in the spiralling state budget deficit.

Over the last couple of days we've seen one of the first signs of autumn here in Prague, as swifts have started gathering for their annual migration to the south. But for how much longer will this annual ritual continue? The common swift has been chosen this year by the Czech Ornithological Society to be the subject of its annual Bird of the Year campaign to heighten a growing threat to the swift's traditional habitats.

Even though this year's August weather has been hot and sunny so far, things could not have been more different exactly two years ago, when many towns in the Czech Republic were affected by heavy floods. The waters didn't reach Prague until August 13, a couple of days after dozens of towns and villages in the south of the country had already found themselves under water. Edita Kucerova, who lives in the beautiful South-Bohemian town of Pisek recalls these events.

One of the stars of Czech film in the 30s and 40s, Zdenka Sulanova, has died at the age of 84. Thanks to her unmistakable singing voice and her delicate appearance so unlike the great divas' of the age, Zdenka Sulanova never lost the affection of Czech audiences even though political circumstances prematurely ended her promising film career.