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Sentences were handed down on Monday in what has been described as one of the biggest cases of organised crime in the Czech Republic, that of the so-called Berdych gang, an infamous criminal grouping named after alleged ringleader David Berdych. On Monday nineteen members of the gang, including former police officers, were given a total of 118 years in prison for crimes including, kidnapping, armed robbery and criminal conspiracy.

Seven months after the country's general elections the Czech Republic is still without a stable government, the lower house is paralyzed by the even division of power between left and right parties and the speaker of the lower chamber is about to resign from office. At the present time it seems that the one institution which remains a beacon of stability is the Office of the President. After four years in office, President Vaclav Klaus has a 67 percent popularity rating and the majority of Czechs would like to see him re-elected in next year's

This is make or break week for Mirek Topolánek, who says he will step down as Civic Democrat chairman if his coalition fails a vote of confidence on Friday. But it is the prime minister's wife, Pavla Topolankova, who has been dominating the headlines in recent days. Though her husband is expecting a child with another woman, she pledged to stand by her man in public. But now she has been ordered to stay away from official events.

With a large English-speaking community, it's perhaps surprising that Prague does not have an English-language theatre scene like those that can be found in other major European capitals like Paris and Berlin. Now a new playwriting competition sponsored by The Prague Post could help rectify this situation. Offering a first prize of 20,000 CZK and productions for the three best scripts, it is hoped that this drama contest could boost interest in English-language theatre in Prague.

What do James Bond and the Czech hobby of mushroom picking have in common? I won't keep you guessing - it is a knife - more precisely knives produced by the Czech company Mikov. Their products are good enough for 007 as well as the peaceful Czech family hobby of mushroom picking.

Since the New Year began, Czechs have been marking the 30th anniversary of Charter 77, the dissident movement that sought to bring respect for human rights to Communist Czechoslovakia. Since that time, the Czech Republic has enjoyed well over a decade of freedom and democracy, but a new citizens' group says there is still work to be done in the realm of human rights.

Over 30 church schools in Prague closed for the day on Friday after getting an anonymous bomb threat. Police and bomb disposal experts have been scouring the schools and premises and an intensive search is on for the culprit. It is the biggest security operation in the Czech capital since last September when there were fears of a possible terrorist attack against Jewish targets.

The Villa Tugendhat in Brno is the Czech Republic's only UNESCO site built in the 20th century. Considered a masterpiece of Modernism, the opulent family home was completed in 1930. In December, members of the Tugendhat family submitted a petition to have the house returned to their possession. But the city of Brno, the villa's current legal owner, doesn't want to give it back.

Jirina Zizkovska LaVine recently received the Czernin Palace Memorial Bronze Medal. Every year the Czech ambassador to the United States confers the prize on an individual or body that has made significant contributions to fostering Czech-US relations. Mrs Lavine, who is 82, was actually presented with the award by the Czech consul in Kansas City, where she has lived since leaving Czechoslovakia over five decades ago. On the phone from there, she told me a little about how she began promoting Czech culture in local schools.

After seven months of long-drawn-out debates on forming a government, Czech politicians came up with a new stunt to revive the public's interest in the deadlocked political scene. On Wednesday, TV crews were invited to a debate between representatives of the three-party coalition in the new government and the Social Democrats about support for the government in an upcoming confidence vote.