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In the course of the Second World War well over half a million Czechoslovak citizens were sent to German and Austrian cities as forced labour. They often worked and lived in appalling conditions in German factories, exacerbated by continual heavy Allied bombardment. Nearly sixty years later only one in ten are still alive and they are still awaiting compensation for their ordeal. Last week this came a step closer when the lower houses of both the German and Austrian parliaments approved the setting up of a fund to compensate forced labourers from throughout Central and Eastern Europe. And this Monday saw a further gesture of reconciliation, this time of a more symbolic kind, with a ceremony held in Berlin to remember 18 young Czech forced labourers who died in the city during an air raid in November 1943 - the same air raid that destroyed Berlin's famous Kaiser Wilhelm Church, to this day a symbol of the city's destruction. The ceremony was initiated by the German insurance company Allianz, which todays owns the building on the site where the young men died. Lydie Holinkova from the Czech Embassy in Berlin told Radio Prague's that the event was made particularly moving by those who attended the ceremony.

It's 55 years since the end of the Second World War, but in a number of cases the issue of punishment for war criminals remains unresolved. Few new cases have emerged in recent years, but now the spokesman of the leading Sudeten German organisation, the Landsmannschaft, has come up with a new angle, demanding that a Czech, Frantisek Foukal, be prosecuted for the massacre of German civilians after the war. has the story.

The oddities of British spelling and pronunciation were brought home to the Czechs over the weekend, when they learned that a place spelled Cholmondeley is actually pronounced 'Chumley'. They also improved their geography, when they learned the place so strangely named is situated in northern England, in Cheshire. History also had a part to play, because Cholmondeley was in the news this weekend as the place where, just 60 years ago, Czechoslovak military units were founded in Britain, units that would play an important role in fighting Nazi Germany

Environmental activists are camping outside the Temelin nuclear power plant in South Bohemia, in a last ditch effort to force a referendum before the plant is started up. Meanwhile, across the border, Germany's environment minister has joined his Austrian counterpart in expressing concerns over safety during the test launch. But there are many other issues at stake. One of the most important is the possible effect on unemployment, as the country will no longer have to rely on coal-fired power stations, which provide work to many in northern regions

Could the Balkans be heading for another war? President Vaclav Havel raised the prospect of a new military conflict in what remains of Yugoslavia at the weekend, in a joint statement with his Croatian counterpart Stipe Mesic. The two men warned the international community not to underestimate the new situation unfolding in the Yugoslav republic of Montenegro, which they say could have dire consequences for stability in the Balkans. reports.

Some 25,000 people took part in the largest religious pilgrimage of the year at Velehrad, in southern Moravia on Wednesday. Velehrad has a very special place not only in the history of the Czech Church, but in the nation's history as well. It was here that the missionary brothers Cyril and Methodius came to preach Christianity in a language the common people understood, Old Church Slavonic - we are talking about the second half of the 9th century. They also taught the people to write - in the script named after one of the brothers - Cyrillic.

Czech literature at the end of the millennium. All this week that's a subject that's preoccupying 150 experts on Czech literature from as far afield as Canada, Egypt and South Korea, who have all gathered in Prague. The Czech Republic may be small but it has an incredibly rich literary tradition, reflected in the sheer number of people who have come for the congress. The Czech Republic's recent history gives the congress a special edge. It is only the second time that experts on Czech literature have been able to come together here in the Czech capital. Until the fall of communism the academic world was divided into East and West - all conferences held here were burdened by a huge amount of ideological baggage. So the congress offers a fascinating meeting of ideas, reappraising both the classics and contemporary authors. Radio Prague's spoke with one of the participants, Rajendra Chitnis, who teaches Czech and Russian at the University of Bristol in Britain. He began by asking him whether there is a lot of interest in Czech writing in the English-speaking world.

The controversial nuclear power plant in southern Bohemia has hit the headlines once again. The process of preparing the plant for trial operation moved into higher gear on Wednesday , when the National Nuclear Safety Agency issued approval to load Temelin with nuclear fuel. has the story.

A prominent Czech-born artist has died in Britain. The sculptor Frantisek Belsky died on Wednesday in Oxfordshire of prostate cancer. has the details.