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There has been an almost endless train of music and dance festivals held throughout the Czech Republic over the course of the past year. The 3rd Annual Festival of Swing music took place last weekend in Prague to full houses, but this weekend the Narodni Dum in Namesti Miru is to host an event where the audience will have the option of getting up and dancing to the music! In a town where jazz is ever popular, this event offers a unique opportunity to travel back to a time when jazz was at its heyday. reports:

Earlier this week, the Social Democrat government decided to extend uranium mining in the Czech Republic by another two years. In the wake of continued protests over the Temelin nuclear power plant, the Trade and Industry Ministry now faces fresh controversy. reports:

In an effort to allay fears about waning commitment on EU expansion, officials in Brussels on Wednesday unveiled a "road map" for frontrunners that, if followed, would open the Union's door to successful candidates at the beginning of 2003. But how do the people in other EU member states feel about the Union's early expansion? has this report:

On Wednesday, the European Commission made public the report which analysts have been speculating about for weeks. So is the Czech Republic any closer to membership in the European Union? has the details:

On Wednesday, Czech Prime Minister Milos Zeman announced that he had postponed an upcoming meeting with Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel. This came in reaction to blockades of Czech-Austrian border crossings by environmentalists who are protesting against the Temelin nuclear power plant. has this report:

The German police force has been investigating alleged illegal imports of human internal organs from the Czech Republic. Czech doctors however, say such that it is highly unlikely that such a business exists. has been looking into the case:

The Czech prison service faced further embarrassment on Tuesday when yet another convict escaped from a prison in Moravia. This is the third successful escape attempt from a Czech prison over the past ten days, the most infamous of which was the dramatic jailbreak of hired assassin, Jiri Kajinek, whose whereabouts are still unknown. has this report:

On November 1st, 15 members of the European Parliament signed a letter to Czech President Vaclav Havel, in which they expressed their discontent over the way the Czech police dealt with demonstrators protesting against globalisation during the IMF/World Bank meetings that were held in Prague in September. Earlier, spoke to one of the signatories of the letter, Danielle Auroi, a member of the Green Party in the European Parliament, and asked her for a statement:

The concept of turning popular children's stories into musicals is becoming an ever more popular trend in the Czech Republic. The latest addition to the musical scene is based on Hans Christen Anderson's fairy tale "The Snow Queen", an English-language premiere of which will open November 11th. reports:

On Wednesday the European Union will publish its annual reports on the readiness of candidate countries for EU accession. In previous years, the Czech Republic's report card from the EU has had a few black marks, and although improvements have been noted since the Social Democrat government came to power in 1998, issues such as minorities and a lack of judicial system reform have come under fire. This year, though, the Czech government hopes for a good write up, claiming that much progress has been made since last year's report. Optimism within