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One of Prague’s most popular tourist attractions, the Palace gardens on the southern slope of Prague castle, have to undergo a major renovation due to an alarming state of disrepair. The National Heritage Institute plans to launch the reconstruction of the Baroque gardens, which should amount to 45 million crowns, in 2017. It is expected to last for five years but the gardens should remain open to visitors throughout the reconstruction.

A Czech Hi-Tech and software engineering company known as Quanti together with the British firm Delion, have created a new virtual reality (VR) headset capable of rivalling existing products like the Oculus Rift, released earlier in 2016. Representatives unveiled the product in London this week, with Czech Radio reporting that consumer and investor interest was high.

As many visitors are no doubt aware, much of the Czech capital has been blighted by graffiti over the last two decades. Now one Prague district has announced a fresh approach to tackling the widespread defacement of buildings. But how will the new anti-graffiti drive work in practice?

A new graphic novel has just been published to mark the upcoming 700th anniversary of the birth of the famous Czech ruler Charles IV. Entitled Charles IV: Master of the World, the comic book’s aim, at least in part, is to map his transformation from young prince to Bohemian king and Holy Roman Emperor.

In its annual report on extremism in the Czech Republic in 2015, the Interior Ministry reports on a slight rise in activities both left and right and a shift from traditional topics to the migrant issue which invariably commands public attention. I asked extremism expert Miroslav Mareš, from Brno’s Masaryk University, to what degree the migrant crisis has affected the activities of extremist groupings and movements.

A special session of the lower house of parliament has put the spotlight on the country’s failure to push through new rules for evaluating the environmental impact of major road, railway, and other projects, As a result the government is now scrambling to salvage the possibility of pushing ahead with around a dozen projects while many others face the prospect of delays.

The wait is just about over for hockey fans anticipating the start of the 2016 Ice Hockey World Championship which begins on Friday. The Czechs play hosts Russia in their opening game in Moscow.

Representatives of the Visegrad Four have sharply rejected a European Commission proposal on the redistribution of migrants across the EU. At their meeting in Prague on Wednesday the foreign ministers of the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Poland said the proposal, which includes penalties for not accepting migrants, was divisive and unacceptable.

A memorial ceremony was held at Czech Radio’s Prague headquarters on Thursday to mark the start of the Prague uprising against years of Nazi oppression at the end of the Second World War. It was a radio broadcast which sparked the rising and the building became the focus for some of the fiercest fighting over the following days in the capital and surrounding countryside.

The European Union should only offer Turkey visa-free travel if all requirements are met, Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka tweeted on Tuesday ahead of a recommendation by the European Commission. The EC has recommended visa-free travel be granted to Turkish citizens in the passport-free Schengen zone, so long as the country fulfills key remaining requirements. Ahead of the announcement, unease in the Czech Republic over the matter – not only by the parties in government but also in the opposition – was high.