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Austrian President Heinz Fischer on Wednesday paid his first official visit to Prague since his appointment as head of state on July 8. Mr Fischer first visited Prague Castle to hold talks with his Czech counterpart Vaclav Klaus and then, separately, with Prime Minister Stanislav Gross. On the official agenda: How Austria and the Czech Republic should co-operate in the European Union. But, as Dita Asiedu tells us, the two topics that have been causing friction between Czechs and Austrians - the Benes decrees and the Temelin nuclear power plant

Most Czechs make occasional or regular donations to some form of charity. Some people go further - they adopt a child "long distance" - to give them the chance of a better life - in India, Uganda, Lithuania or Belarus. The child sponsorship project was launched several years ago by Caritas Prague, a Czech Catholic charity, and to date it has given 11 thousand children an education. The project's public relations officer Sona Reznickova has just returned from a month-long-stay in Uganda where she visited some of the young beneficiaries. We asked

In sport there is nothing quite as satisfying as a favourite peaking at just the right moment to clinch a much-expected prize. That is exactly what happened on Tuesday for Czech athlete Roman Sebrle, who surged from behind in a second day of decathlon action to take Olympic gold. Jan Velinger has more on Sebrle's finish in this most dramatic of sports.

The most popular mineral water in the Czech Republic is Mattoni, which comes from the west Bohemian spa town of Karlovy Vary. The water - usually referred to by the diminutive "Mattonka" - is now available in a snazzy new bottle created by Pininfarina, an international design studio best known for sleek sports cars. Mattoni spokesman Michal Donath told me all about it.

On Tuesday the new government of Stanislav Gross passed its first crucial test, receiving a vote of confidence in the Lower House. The vote followed seven hours of grueling deliberations for and against the new government program - Martin Mikule was on site throughout the day.

On Tuesday evening a classical concert takes place at Bertramka, the charming villa where Mozart stayed several times on visits to Prague; it's part of the Mlada Praha (Young Prague) music festival, which began on Monday and runs until the 31st.

The floods of 2002 devastated the library of the Czech Statistical Office. Over a century of statistical data, as far back as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, was under water. How are they coping two years on?

The row around the appointment of Pavel Pribyl as head of the government's office is now over. Mr Pribyl's problems became untenable when it emerged that he had commanded a riot police unit which beat up anti communist demonstrators in the streets of Prague in 1989. Pribyl resigned last Friday and will most likely be replaced by a man whose past could hardly be more different - former dissident Ales Sulc. Pribyl is gone -but a lot of questions remain unanswered. How is it possible for a man with such a history to have gone undetected for so long

A new bribery scandal has shaken the Czech political establishment ahead of the government's confidence vote - with a government MP coming forward with the allegation he was offered millions by the country's largest opposition party to bring the government down. Dramatic accusation? Certainly, but as Jan Velinger reports, what's missing at the moment is solid proof.

The 4th Annual Scottish Games Czech Open was held on Saturday at the beautiful chateux of Sychrov to the north of Prague in the region known as Czech Paradise. I was there myself on Saturday and it certainly wasn't a Czech paradise - but it was one for those visiters with a love for anything Scottish.