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A raid by the country’s organised crime unit at the Office of the Government and several other institutions has sent shockwaves throughout the country. Among those detained are former Civic Democrat MPs and a close aide to the prime minister. The scandal has rocked the Czech political scene and there is speculation it could result in the government’s fall.

The police are pushing for a ban on the sale of alcohol over the internet in the Czech Republic, which last year saw dozens of deaths caused by illegally produced spirits. As greater emphasis is placed on the provenance of booze, officers say stocks of alcohol sold online are very hard to police. For their part, retailers say such a ban could cost them huge sums of money.

This Tuesday marked the end of the first 100 days in office for President Miloš Zeman. Radio Prague spoke with political analyst Jiří Pehe about what was surprising about President Zeman’s actions during these past three months, and how we can asses them.

At a traditional ceremony in Prague on Tuesday, President Miloš Zeman elevated 58 academics to the esteemed position of university professor. The notable absence of literary critic Martin C. Putna, upon whom the president refused to confer the title in person, caused uproar among Czech academics and even led some nominees to boycott the ceremony.

New lagoons and ponds left over from recent floods in parts of Bohemia are proving fertile ground for mosquitoes. Officials have so far registered the most in the areas of Třeboň, south Bohemia and Mělník, north of Prague. Potentially more dangerous are mudslides in areas where the ground was thoroughly inundated.

The weekend brought no respite for the thousands of people evacuated from their homes in last week’s devastating floods. Torrential rain and hailstorms swept through central and north Bohemia causing flash floods in places previously considered safe and complicating clean-up work in areas where water-levels had been receding.

The Czech national football team’s qualification run for the 2014 World Cup has left a lot to be desired. A loss against Denmark and draw with Bulgaria earlier made it far less likely the Czechs will make it to the tournament next year. On Friday, the squad faces its biggest challenge yet: Euro 2012 runners-up Italy. The Czech team effectively needs to win to keep its chances for next year alive.

The severe flooding in the Czech Republic has reinvigorated the debate as to what causes flooding and how we can protect ourselves from it. There’s been much talk of technological solutions such as building higher flood defences and bigger dams. But some ecologists believe it’s time for a total rethink of where humans should settle, even if that means abandoning the floodplain altogether. Radio Prague has been discussing the matter with Ondřej Liška, head of the non-parliamentary Green Party.

Flooding in the Czech Republic has begun receding as the Labe River peaked in north Bohemia in the early hours of Thursday. The situation in Prague and other regions affected by the floods has calmed down. However, thousands of homes remain evacuated, and the worst hit areas are only beginning to count the damages.

Over the last 15 years, the Czech Republic has experienced more floods than in the whole of the 20th century. In 1997, flooding devastated parts of Moravia; five years later, the west of the country, including the capital Prague, were inundated. The country has also experienced a series of local flash floods which caused serious damage. Leading Czech climatologist Radim Tolasz says Czechs should brace themselves for more floods to come in what he calls central Europe’s wet period.