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While many Czechs are enjoying their summer holidays taking it easy in the countryside or lazing on the beach abroad, a few hardy souls will soon be facing one of the ultimate sporting challenges - swimming La Manche, the English Channel.

Prague 1's Town Hall has announced a tender for plans to revamp the city's main thoroughfare, Wenceslas Square, with councillors saying layout and transport need to be improved. They also want to ban parking and to see more pedestrian areas.

The south Bohemian town of Cesky Krumlov has an unusually well preserved and beautiful centre, and is one of the most visited spots in the Czech Republic. Cesky Krumlov is currently hosting its annual International Music Festival, which is taking place in almost a dozen different venues, including the gardens of the town's chateau. Martin Mikule spoke to the festival's artistic director Zbynek Mikulas.

New figures show that electrical engineering has now become the Czech Republic's biggest industry - overtaking the country's traditional industrial sectors of steel production and engineering. Turnover in electrical engineering - which covers everything from computers to components for the car industry - has more than doubled since 2000, thanks largely to an influx of foreign multinationals.

Interior Minister Frantisek Bublan announced on Monday that the Czech authorities will step up security in the wake of the blasts in Egypt, which claimed at least 88 lives, including that of a Czech man. The measures will be introduced across the board, from the police to the intelligence services.

With all the sports events on in the Czech Republic one might be forgiven for having missed the first World Championship in - that's right - marbles in Prague. But, what a shame if you did! Czechs closed out the competition's top five spots, making it clear that in the Czech Republic marbles are a lot more than just a kid's game.

The Czech Republic still has an extensive system of fortifications built in the 1930s that was intended to prevent an attack by neighboring Nazi Germany. You can often come across of these concrete "bungalows" in Czech forests near the borders. While some consider the structures ugly, historians point out their great historical value. Most of the bunkers are still the property of Czech Army but they have rapidly become a burden. The Ministry of Defense has now decided to get rid of them to sell them to private buyers.

One of the Czech Republic's most popular public figures, Culture Minister Pavel Dostal, died on Sunday at the age of 62. Mr Dostal - playwright, theatre director, anti-Communist dissident and cabinet minister - had been fighting cancer of the pancreas for the past year. Rob Cameron looks back at a colourful life and a remarkable career.

Almost exactly three years ago Prague made headlines around the world when the city was hit by the worst flooding in five hundred years. At the time, damage was caused to many historical structures, partly because of an inadequate anti-flood system. Since then a lot has been spent on improving that system, and it was tested for the first time at the weekend in a major operation involving all the emergency services. Michal Kopecky is the assistant of Prague's mayor - he described the new system to Martin Mikule.

The Czech Republic has its first victim of terrorism. Twenty-four year old Petr Koran worked for a travel agency in Sharm el-Sheikh. He was sitting in a café when the bombs went off. Another Czech sustained light injuries in the explosions.