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The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival opened at the weekend with a star-studded audience at Friday’s gala event. Among those present were the French director Patrice Chéreau and his compatriot, actress Isabelle Huppert, who received the festival’s first award. Particularly poignant though was the presence of Czech born director Miloš Forman, as it marked the return of a famous son to his native home and native language. Christian Falvey reports on the opening days of the 44th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.

A new row has blown up over the treatment of the Czechoslovak secret police files. This time a former anti-communist dissident says he will take the step of publishing what he describes as crucial computerised databases on around 100,000 people who had dealings with the secret police. He says he has taken the step because the official state guardian of the police records would not do so.

A small group of Czechs who have been seeking justice for almost 70 years have now been promised they will be compensated for property lost before and after WWII. The Czechs lost out when the Hungarians and then the Soviet Union took over Subcarpathian Ruthenia – formerly the most eastern tip of Czechoslovakia. After many setbacks, Czech lawmakers have now given the final go-ahead for compensation.

15 cases of swine flu have now been registered in the Czech Republic – five new cases on Thursday alone. Officials revealed Czechs had come down with the illness after having returned from the US (and in one case Japan). While all incidents of the disease are being described as mild, it is clear that further cases are inevitable: Great Britain alone, much harder hit, has projected 100,000 new cases per day by the end of the summer.

Every July, the Czech Republic sees the return of the famous Karlovy Vary International Film Festival - eight days of world-class cinematography and seven nights of world-class parties. Our reporter Christian Falvey begins a week of stories on both.

Prague’s transport system is marking the end of an era on Thursday. The capital’s underground system is taking the last of its original Soviet-built carriages out of every day service on the metro network. The milestone event has sparked a mixture of nostalgia but also relief.

Ratification of the EU’s Lisbon Treaty crept one step closer to conclusion this week when Germany’s Constitutional Court ruled the documents is compatible with the country’s de facto constitution. Those, however, who think this latest legal clarification has done anything to mollify Lisbon’s opponents would be mistaken – the Czech president Václav Klaus says for him, the German decision changes nothing.

Czech scientists are up in arms over the government’s plan to reform the system of science and research. The cabinet is planning to introduce new ways of evaluating the results of the individual scientific institutions, and allocate funds according to them. But scientists themselves say the new system is poorly designed, and warn that it might destabilize Czech science as such. Radio Prague spoke to Professor Jiří Drahoš is the head of the Czech Academy of Sciences about what he thought was wrong with the reform of RnD, or research and

The Czech media is awash with claims that Canada is on the verge of reintroducing visas for Czech citizens, in reaction to the large numbers of Roma from the Czech Republic seeking asylum there. The speculation led the Czech foreign minister Jan Kohout to call a special press conference on Wednesday at which he confirmed that Canada had informed Prague it intended to take measures, but said no decision had been taken yet on visas.

July 1st in the Czech Republic is considered the official start of the summer holidays, a time to kick back with family and friends and the perfect time to go on vacation. But this year there’s a difference: Czechs, like most of their neighbours, are feeling the bite of the economic crisis. According to a new survey released on Wednesday, those planning on going on vacation certainly won’t give up their holiday, but will be looking for ways to save.