FLOODS - A July 22–23 exercise has shown Prague can cope with flooding in half a day, according to Mayor Pavel Bém. Over the night of July 22–23 some 500 firemen and police erected 2.5 kilometers (1.6 miles) of portable aluminum walls designed to protect the city from an 11-meter (36-foot) water level, the height the Vltava River reached during the 2002 summer floods that caused devastating damage.

PROSTITUTES - The Cabinet agreed July 20 to propose a parliamentary bill that would legalize, regulate and tax prostitutes. The bill faces considerable opposition from deputies, including some within the government coalition led by the Social Democrats, who say they don't want the state to become a pimp.

GERMANS - Polish Prime Minister Marek Belka praised as "courageous" a proposal by his Czech counterpart, Jiří Paroubek, to recognize ethnic Germans in Czechoslovakia who stood up against fascism during World War II. Unlike Belka, who made his comment during a visit to Prague July 21, Slovak Prime Minister Mikuláš Dzurinda and Czech President Václav Klaus have not backed Paroubek.

IRAQ - A July 21 attack on a Czech armored car in Baghdad does not appear to have been intended as a strike against the Czech Republic, Interior Minister František Bublan said. Gunmen fired on a Toyota belonging to the Czech Embassy as it carried policemen from the Baghdad airport. They escaped uninjured. Bublan pointed out that attacks on foreign armored vehicles are not unusual.

FACELIFT - Prague 1 Mayor Vladimír Vihan is planning a facelift for Wenceslas Square with more trees and benches, fewer stalls, wider pavements and no parking except by delivery vans. An open competition will be launched in August inviting architects to submit proposals. The best design will be chosen in November but it is not yet known when reconstruction will start.

CABINET - The coalition government led by Prime Minister Jiří Paroubek is gaining popularity, according to a poll by the STEM agency released July 25. Some 38 percent of citizens rate its performance as very or fairly good, 5 percent more than in June and the best result for a Cabinet since 2003. President Václav Klaus remains the politician people trust most, enjoying an approval rating of 73 percent, up 3 percent from June.