Current Affairs | All stories

A world-renowned comedy troupe from England, The Natural Theatre Company, had a pleasant surprise in store for visitors to Prague Castle on Tuesday evening. The company's ingenious street performances thrilled crowds in Plzen last week during the International Theatre Festival, and they are now honouring Prague with a three-day visit. has the details:

The Czech government has approved a new law that will, if passed by Parliament, introduce new measures to protect non-smokers and help reduce the numbers of children taking up the habit. Smoking in public buildings and at bus stops would be illegal, as would selling cigarettes to those under the age of 18. has this report:

In a month of numerous cultural events, Prague is soon to be hosting the 3rd annual Swing Festival. This takes place at the Narodni Dum Na Vinohradech from the 1st to the 3rd of November, and the line up this year promises to exceed the quality of previous years. has the details:

On November 12th, the Czech people will be asked to elect members to 14 new regional authorities, part of a general move towards reorganising the highly centralised Czech state. Critics say this decentralisation is long overdue: Communist-era regional authorities were abolished in 1990, and replaced with eight regions with little or no authority of their own. At present most decisions are taken in Prague and passed down to the local authorities. What little power local people do have, is restricted to the elected town and village councils. But

Yes, it's reached the Czech Republic, the quiz show that has had viewers the world over glued to their TV screens. "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" has now been launched in its Czech version, by the independent TV station NOVA, and Czechs too can enjoy that minute chance of becoming an instant millionaire. The prizes may not be quite on the scale seen in some countries, but it's clear that despite--of perhaps because of--forty years of communism, Czechs are as keen on speculation, risk-taking and gambling as any of their neighbours. But it's

As part of an official visit to Italy and the Vatican, Czech Prime Minister Milos Zeman met Pope John Paul II on Sunday night. Discussions in the Vatican included relations between the Czech Republic and the Holy See, as well as preparations for a bilateral treaty. Among the problems discussed was the issue of church property, confiscated by the communists in 1948, which has still not been returned. The Czech Republic is one of the last Central European countries that has not yet signed such an agreement with the Vatican. talked to the spokesman

Next year's state budget has been passed by the lower house of Parliament in its first reading. This, unlike the past two years, was extremely fast. Despite the fact that the budget includes a deficit of 49 billion Czech crowns, more than double the original amount agreed between the Social Democrat government and the opposition Civic Democrats, who support the government via a power-sharing agreement, the whole process was remarkably smooth. spoke to political analyst Jiri Pehe and asked him whether he thought this was a surprise

Representatives of the International Romany Union, or the IRU, met with Czech President Vaclav Havel on Thursday to explain why they want the Roma to be recognized as a nation. There are some twelve million Roma living throughout Central and Eastern Europe, and calls from within the Roma community for recognition as a people have been mounting for some time now. has this report: