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After more than a decade of ownership disputes in the Czech courts, east Bohemia's renaissance Opocno Chateau is now back in state hands. On Tuesday, Countess Kristina Colloredo-Mansfeld - a descendant of the original owners of the popular tourist attraction - handed over the chateau to the national heritage institute. She was forced to give back the property to the state because her father is accused of having collaborated with the Nazis.

This week the health ministry will officially reveal all the details of planned reforms in the healthcare sector but already many are known, among them that Czechs may soon have to pay health care fees for prescription drugs as well as for visits to the doctor's. Until now the Czech Republic has been one of the few countries in the European Union without such mandatory fees.

A special plaque has been unveiled in Paris in honour of the late journalist Pavel Tigrid - one of the most influential Czech personalities of the twentieth century.

It was clear from the moment he entered high politics that the former mayor of the town of Vsetin, Jiri Cunek, was a controversial politician. After he achieved nationwide notoriety for moving Roma rent defaulters from the centre of Vsetin, his political career accelerated. Riding on a wave of popularity, Jiri Cunek won a Senate seat and the chairmanship of his Christian Democratic Party; that eventually launched him to the posts of deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Regional Development in the coalition government of Prime Minister Mirek

One of the most famous figures of the former Czech underground scene, Egon Bondy, died on April 9th at the age of 77. During his lifetime he published dozens of volumes of poetry and prose. But he was perhaps most well known in the Czech Republic for lyrics he wrote for the seminal Czech underground band The Plastic People of the Universe.

No issue has plagued post-communist governments in the Czech Republic so much as corruption. Every prime minister in office has pledged to resolve the problem but so far none have met with success. Now the new Civic Democrat Justice Minister Jiri Pospisil has unveiled a proposed amendment to the penal code which should help him succeed where his predecessors failed.

The sad news was announced earlier this week that film director Ladislav Rychman had died at age 84 leaving behind a rich film and TV legacy. Rychman's best-known work is without doubts the 1964 Czech cult film musical "Starci na chmelu" or "The Hop Pickers".

A storm has erupted at CzechInvest, a state body which encourages foreign investment and helps develop Czech companies. At least a fifth of CzechInvest's employees have handed in their notice, after the minister of industry sacked CEO Tomas Hruda on Friday. The Industry Ministry has made a number of accusations against Mr Hruda - claims denied by him, and the staff who have resigned en masse.

Dozens of non-governmental organisations from both the Czech Republic and abroad gathered in Prague on Wednesday for an annual NGO market. The event, which was open to the public, included lectures and debates on everything from the role of civic society in post-communist countries to water shortages in the Middle East.

Deputy Prime Minister Jiri Cunek has become the "enfant terrible" of Czech politics. Accused of corruption and in hot water over offensive remarks made about the Roma minority, the Regional Development Minister refuses to leave his government posts, insisting that he has done nothing wrong. His coalition partners think otherwise - but there's one question they can't agree on - who should be the one to make him leave?