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Officials will be visiting every household in the country this week to deliver forms for the upcoming census. The state wants to know the exact number of people, houses, even household appliances there are at the end of this month. A similar census is held every ten years, and has been held for some 250 years in this part of the world. But never has it met with so much controversy. reports.

The appointment of Jiri Balvin as the new interim director of the country's public TV network - Czech Television - has brought to an end the much publicized battle over the station's future. TV journalists ended their six week strike on Saturday after signing an agreement in which the newly appointed director pledged to dismiss staff appointed by his controversial predecessor, Jiri Hodac.

Well, the Czech birth rate is falling, and the government is starting to do something about it. On Wednesday, the cabinet approved a proposed amendment to the law on social benefit, which would increase something called "porodne" - a one- off payment that Czech families receive from the state when they have children. The amendment, if approved by parliament, will also make it possible for more parents to work without losing their right to claim child benefit. According to the current law, anyone on maternity or paternity leave can earn a maximum of 2,100 Czech crowns - around one fifth of the average monthly wage - any more and they lose their child benefit. The new law would allow unlimited extra earnings, encouraging people to work and have children.

According to a new poll conducted by the European Commission, the majority of EU citizens support plans for enlargement to include the Czech Republic and other former Eastern bloc countries. The survey showed that 44% of the 16,000 people polled in all 15 EU countries supported the enlargement process, while 35% were against. Many of those who didn't agree with expansion were citizens of the Union's three largest countries: Britain, France, and Germany. has the story.

Following an already prolific year of filmmaking for the Czech Republic, the first few weeks of 2001 have already seen five premieres of new Czech works. The newest release is a musical comedy called The Rebels, and opens in Prague on Thursday evening with English subtitles. Radio Prague's was at the screening and brings back the details.

The Czech Prime Minister Milos Zeman visited Sweden earlier this week for talks on a number of issues, most notably EU enlargement. But there was another crucial item on Mr Zeman's agenda - persuading Swedish investors to stake their hard-earned cash on the Czech Republic, especially if Prague decides to spend some two billion dollars buying Swedish Grippen jet fighters for the Czech Air Force. has more.

Those with an interest in modern architecture have a unique chance to visit a new exhibition in Prague depicting the work of American architect Frank Lloyd Wright. was at the opening ceremony and has this report:

As you've just read, the Czech Prime Minister Milos Zeman has spent the last few days on in Sweden, which currently holds the rotating presidency of the European Union. Sweden is seen as firmly pro-enlargement - Prime Minister Goran Persson has made it a priority of Sweden's EU presidency to speed up the accession process. But as discovered on the icy streets of the Swedish capital Stockholm, not everyone supports Mr Persson's efforts:

A crowd cheers the return of Ivan Pilip and Jan Bubenik, two Czechs who spent three weeks in jail in Cuba after meeting dissidents opposed to the Castro regime. has more:

The European Union Commissioner for Agriculture, Franz Fischler, was in Prague on Monday to sign the two agreements aimed at bringing Czech agricultural policies in line with EU requirements. The result will be one of the biggest financial commitments thus far pledged by Brussels to the Czech Republic. has the story.