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Several towns have been cut off and many villages flooded as new rain continued to swell rivers in south-central Bohemia. Whilst firemen and soldiers have already evacuated a number of towns and villages, the regional governor in central-Bohemia called for people living around the Berounka and Vltava rivers to prepare for further evacuation. People have also been told to leave parts of the UNESCO-protected town of Cesky Krumlov - the second most popular tourist destination after the capital city, Prague. Jan Bauer, the mayor of the southern town of Prachatice, told Czech Radio that the flooding had left trains and buses not running because bridges have fallen and roads are damaged. Whilst floods sweeping across Europe have killed more than 60 people in the last week, the Czech Republic has reported four casualties so far. Another three people - including two voluntary firemen - died of heart attacks during rescue work.

Jiri Kolar, one of the Czech Republic's most famous and influential artists is dead. After a series of illnesses that left him weak and exhausted, he died in his apartment in Prague on Sunday at the age of 88. Mr Kolar is mainly known for his poetry and unique collages. After the rise of Communism in 1948, he went through a decades-long struggle to be allowed to publish and exhibit. His refusal to compromise resulted in a nine month prison sentence in 1950, which led him to sign the Charter 77 human rights declaration along with other opposition figures such as the current Czech President Vaclav Havel. In 1980, Mr Kolar emigrated to France, where he stayed until the collapse of Communist rule in 1989. Mr Kolar had several exhibitions in western Europe and the United States, including a 1981 show in New York's Guggenheim Museum.

A restaurant-owner in the North Moravian city of Ostrava stood trial at the Regional court on Friday, after a Roma couple sued him for not serving them in his restaurant because of the colour of their skin. The man defended himself by saying his Club Vegas was a private one which only its members are allowed to enter. Despite the fact that there was reportedly a notice on the door announcing this, a witness told the court he was not a member and had always been served. Markus Pape from the European Centre for Roma Rights has described the incident as disguised racism.

The 13th round of British immigration controls at Prague's Ruzyne airport was discontinued on Tuesday. As of July 20th, British officers refused 78 people entry to the United Kingdom. In the previous round 82 people were denied entry to the UK. The controls, agreed upon by the Czech and British governments, are meant to prevent people from abusing the British asylum system. They were first introduced last summer after several waves of Czech Roma arrived in Great Britain in order to seek political asylum. This year, the asylum seekers are travelling by coaches rather than by air and many have been returned from the Czech-German border by German border authorities.