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Poland is now firmly in the hands of conservative politicians, following the election at the weekend of Lech Kaczynski as the country's new president. Mr Kaczynski's right-wing Law and Justice party - led by his brother Jaroslaw - also won the recent parliamentary elections and is now trying to form a coalition. So what does all this mean for the Czech Republic?

The political standoff over the naming of a new health minister intensified with the de facto appointment on Friday of Czech Doctors Union chairman David Rath to the post. President Vaclav Klaus, who rejected Rath's initial candidature, was angered by the move, and continues to cry foul over alleged conflict of interest. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Jiri Paroubek is threatening to seek a ruling from the Constitutional Court on the legality of Klaus' actions.

There seems to be a curse hanging over the Czech health ministry. Few ministers since 1989 have kept their post for much longer than a year and the health sector has been plagued by financial troubles despite all attempts at reform. The recently vacated seat was about to be filled by David Rath, the head of the professional body of Czech doctors, but President Vaclav Klaus refused to confirm his appointment on Thursday, citing conflict of interest on Mr Rath's part. Only hours later Mr Rath was named deputy health minister.

The Czech Republic lost one of its finest artists this week, Eva Svankmajerova: writer, painter, and Surrealist artistic collaborator with her husband Jan on numerous mixed live-action/stop animation films including the award-winning "Little Otik" in 2000. Over forty-five years Eva and Jan Svankmajer became inseparable on the Czech arts scene. They collaborated on deeply visceral works that echoed the darkness of totalitarian life as well as life in general, hiding and subsequently revealing surfaces beneath surfaces: sexuality, corruption, hidden

Former Czech president Vaclav Havel has been voted one of the world's Top Five public intellectuals. More than 20,000 voters from around the world took part in selecting the winners from a list of one hundred candidates, drawn up by the editors of the British magazine 'Prospect' and the US magazine 'Foreign Policy'. Brian Kenety has more.

The case of the fugitive Czech billionaire Radovan Krejcir has taken a new twist. From his hideout in the Seychelles the man whom the police claim was the ringleader of a dangerous gang has taken a swipe at the ruling Social Democrats, claiming that he loaned the party 60 million crowns back in 2002 in return for special favours.

Is it a boy or a girl? - this question was raised by the Czech tabloid press this week. No, we're not talking about a human child but a baby gorilla that was born almost a year ago at the Prague Zoo.

Eight days after the firing of Milada Emmerova as health minister, the Czech government now has a successor in David Rath, the head of the professional body of Czech doctors. He could become the 12th health minister since 1989 - and would face as tall an order as any: reforming a health sector in financial straits and doing so in record time.

Members of the European Forum for Responsible Drinking - which brings together many of Europe's largest drinks companies - held the latest in a series of conferences in Brussels on Wednesday. Statistics quoted at the forum suggest that Czech children start drinking earlier than children anywhere else in the European Union - on average at the age of eleven. But is the drinks industry part of the solution, or part of the problem? Attending the conference on behalf of Czech spirits producers was David Binar. Radio Prague asked him why he believed

As we reported on Tuesday, restoration work is still going on in order to repair the damage caused by the massive floods in the summer of 2002 in various archives around Prague. Because the memory is so fresh and conservation experts in the Czech Republic have gathered a lot of experience over the past three years, the Prague City Council has offered to send a team of Czech experts to New Orleans to help the city restore its historic heritage damaged by Hurricane Katrina.