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This weekend, Central Bohemia was taken back to the fourteenth century as actors and politicians took part in a re-enactment of Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV's traditional annual journey from Prague Castle to Karlstejn. The two-day procession was accompanied by various other events, introducing visitors to everyday life seven centuries ago. It was the first of an annual event launched by the governor of Central Bohemia, the aim of which is to help boost tourism in the region.

The fastest growing sport in the world is modern and dynamic, though it is a sport you have probably never heard of. It's called racketlon, and it's had spectacular growth of 300% over the past three years, in terms of the number of official players. Racketlon is the youngest sibling of triathlon and decathlon, and combines four racquet sports played according to the increasing weight of racquets used - they are table tennis, badminton, squash and tennis. The Czech Republic is among the superpowers of racketlon.

Tourists who chose this Monday and Tuesday for quick stopovers in Prague picked the worst possible time if they were hoping to see the area of Prague Castle. To put it bluntly, they won't. The Castle and more immediate surroundings have been closed off as part of intense security in place ahead of the arrival of US President George W. Bush. In terms of security, Prague has rarely seen anything like it (the closest perhaps being a NATO Summit in 2002).

Christian Democrat leader and Deputy Prime Minister Jiri Cunek, who is suspected of having taken a half a million crown bribe while he served as mayor of Vsetin, is sinking deeper into trouble. Several of his chief witnesses have been accused of perjury -and the Prime Minister's patience with Mr Cunek appears to be at an end. However dismissing his deputy is proving harder than one might expect.

When Hugo Ball and Emmy Hennings launched the Cabaret Voltaire in Zurich in February 1916, they set into motion a process that was to cause a revolution in European art, writing and theatre. This was the beginning of Dada. The Dadaists described their work as 'anti-art', defying the prevailing artistic conventions of the time and passionately opposing the First World War. Several of Dada's founding proponents had roots in Romania, but what is less well known is that Dada also had a number of intriguing Czech connections. This is to be one of the

Czech doctors are sounding alarm bells over unscientific treatment of serious illnesses. The Czech Medical Chamber has just released a list of selected alternative medicine practices on its website as part of a text called "The Risks of Alternative Medicine in Cancer Treatment". The organisation says it wants to warn patients against the unrealisable promises of "healers".

It came as no surprise on Wednesday but that took no edge of the news: the European Commission's issuing of a warning to the Czech Republic for not doing enough to rein in its public deficit. With an increase in expenditures the Czech Republic is set this year to miss the EU's mark of keeping the deficit below 3 percent of the GDP as part of its convergence requirements.

The Czech government is being forced to address a serious problem. Following a decline in the birth rate after the fall of communism hundreds of crèches and kindergartens closed down. Now, the trend has turned - young women in their thirties are having babies - but they find that when they are ready to go back to work they have nowhere to place their children.

The Civic Democrat Justice Minister Jiri Pospisil has presented the draft of a new penal code. For the next three months the text of the legislation will be available on the ministry's website for the public to read. Anyone with ideas is invited to mail their comment to the ministry which has promised to incorporate all justified comments in the new penal code.

Prague Zoo proudly announced a new arrival on Wednesday morning. A baby gorilla was born shortly after midnight, only the second gorilla ever born in captivity in the Czech Republic. Both mother and baby are healthy and Zoo staff have breathed a sigh of relief: only six weeks ago another female gave birth to a stillborn child and nearly died herself during labour.