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Former Czech president Vaclav Havel visited Poland this week to launch the Polish edition of his latest book. But the warm welcome he received in Kracow quickly turned frosty, after Mr. Havel commented on the political situation in Poland, advising the country to call early elections as soon as possible, preferably with international observers present.

The Czech Republic is still counting the costs from the two devastating floods that hit the country in 1997 and 2002. Just this week in fact the Agriculture Ministry released a report estimating the financial cost of the two great floods at more than 150 billion crowns, or 7.3 billion US dollars. To ensure the country is better prepared for another calamity, the emergency services are about to hold a three-day simulation exercise.

Thomas Garrigue Masaryk, the founding father of the first Czechoslovak Republic, is a real icon to many Czechs. Now a new project is bringing the country's first president to the streets of the Czech capital - in an exhibition in the form of a series of poster columns. Organisers say they are hoping the people of Prague become "accidental" visitors to the five-part street exhibition.

The start of the new school year saw a special anniversary on Monday: 10 years since the revival of Jewish education in Prague. The Gur Arye (Lion's Cub) Elementary School and Or Chadas (New Light) High School are the only Jewish schools in the Czech Republic, and on Monday their anniversary was celebrated by teachers, students and a number of notable guests, including Senate deputy chairman Petr Pithart. Speaking at the school, he called ten years "barely a second in Jewish history" but indicated the fifty that followed the Holocaust were "much

A truck was due to arrive in the small west Bohemian town of Okrouhle Hradiste on Tuesday bearing a most unusual cargo; not a regular consignment of goods, but around 40 greyhounds from Ireland. The animals are being adopted by Czech dog lovers who want to save them from being (often brutally) destroyed - and help these greyhounds enjoy a dignified life in a loving environment.

The new school year is always a time of anticipation and excitement for children, their parents, and of course teachers, but this year is promising more than most: for the first time schools will be fully responsible for their own curricula and teaching. Through the reforms, the Education Ministry hopes to make Czech classrooms a far more dynamic environment, inspiring pupils to greater interaction as well as independence.

One could have been mistaken for thinking oneself to be anywhere other than Prague this weekend, as the streets came alive with Latin music and Brazilian flags. This was however neither an attempted takeover from across the Atlantic nor a confused expression of misplaced cultural identity. It was the city's annual carnival. Beginning on a Prague square, winding its way through the streets of Smichov to Prague's artificial beach where the party continued, the festival was an attempt to turn the potentially depressing end of the holiday season into

Antonin Dvorak's best-loved opera Rusalka tells the haunting story of a water-nymph who yearns to become human because she has fallen in love with a mortal. Through a witch's magic spell she leaves her underwater home to live on land - with tragic results. First premiered at Prague's National Theatre in 1901 Dvorak's Rusalka became an instant success with the public and has enchanted opera lovers for over a century.

A new surgical treatment of snoring and sleep apnea has been performed for the first time in the world by Czech doctors in the west Bohemian town of Domazlice. The method was developed by the American company Apneon, which chose the Czech doctor Vaclav Pavelec on the basis of his published specialist studies. I spoke to Mr Pavelec earlier today and started by asking him about the problem of snoring in general.

The Czech Republic ranks 47th out of 158 countries in Transparency International's 2006 Corruption Perceptions Index, and a series of governments since 1989 have been criticised for failing to address graft effectively. But can we now expect some progress in this area? Interior Minister Ivan Langer has proposed the introduction of undercover agents, who would be present in all areas of life - even fighting corruption within the police force.