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Just days before the start of the Beijing Olympics, Czech athletes, journalists and support staff are arriving in the host city. The Czech Republic is sending a 133-member team, and the first hours spent in the city suggest that these Olympic Games will be a challenge in more ways than one.

Hypothermia as a means of protecting patients in critical condition has been used in hospitals across the Czech Republic for years. Now, first aid workers are introducing it in emergency care. A pilot project, which is currently underway in several Czech regions, aims to prevent brain damage in patients suffering from a heart attack with the help of hypothermia. Karel Cvachovec is the chairman of the Czech Society of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine:

The eyes of the world are on Beijing where athletes have been arriving for the 2008 Olympic games due to begin this coming Friday. And as the opening ceremony nears human rights activists around the world are stepping up the pressure on the Chinese regime, demanding greater openness and the release of all prisoners of conscience.

Czechs are paying homage to Russian author and Soviet-era dissident Alexander Solzhenitsyn, who died on Sunday. Mr Solzhenitsyn will perhaps best be remembered for opening the eyes of the world to the true brutality of Soviet Russia, but the author is not without his critics.

Miloš Zeman, one of the biggest names in Czech politics in the last two decades, could be making a comeback. A civic association called the ‘Friends of Miloš Zeman’ has registered at the Interior Ministry and is planning its first meeting. On Monday, the former prime minister is set to address around 500 of his supporters in Prague, where the group will announce its manifesto. So does this mean that the former Social Democrats leader is actually planning a return to politics? I talked to analyst Vladimíra Dvořáková to find out. Firstly, I asked

The long wait will be over for Czech football fans on Saturday, when after a two-and-a-half month break the Gambrinus Liga – the top tier of Czech soccer – kicks off once again. Can Slavia Prague defend the title they won so dramatically in May, or will fierce rivals Sparta return to their usual dominance? Who are the players to watch out for this season? And what’s the story with the two clubs called Bohemians?

The number of Czechs who meet their deaths while on holiday every summer is on the increase. In fact, more than 50 people have lost their lives abroad since the middle of June, according to figures just released by the Czech Foreign Ministry. The reason for the high fatality rate could well be that Czechs are inclined to take unnecessary risks while on holiday.

It might be the time of year for writing and sending postcards, but the Czech postal service is inundated with mail of another kind. The number of parcels arriving in the Czech Republic from the United States has shot up dramatically, with Czechs taking advantage of internet shopping and the strength of the crown.

Václav Klaus is the king of Czech public speaking, at least according to a new poll. A jury of academics, spokespeople and news anchors found the president’s rhetoric the best in the Czech Republic, while Deputy Prime Minister Jiří Čunek was told to wash his mouth out. The poll looked at the ten politicians who have enjoyed the most airtime in the last month. The man behind it was Tomáš Studeník from the Westminster agency:

After four days in the air, two replicas of Czech-made Avia BH aeroplanes successfully landed in Belgium on Tuesday. The flight was a re-enactment of a 1923 air race between Prague and Brussels, which was won by Czech pilot Zdenek Lhota. To commemorate the victory, the planes touched down in Belgium on the 75th anniversary of the win. Karel Kasal, one of the members of the ground crew responsible for fuelling the planes along the way, has described the journey over the phone from the Belgian capital: