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The Four Party Coalition - a group of four right-of-centre opposition parties - is beginning the process of electing a single leader. It's a painstaking process - the coalition ranges from centre to right, including Christian Democrats, former members of the Civic Democrats who defected to form the Freedom Union, and several smaller right-wing parties. The Four-Party Coalition is a negligible force in the lower house - the Chamber of Deputies - but did very well in recent Senate and local elections. But can the party unite around a single leader

The long-standing and complicated dispute over the Czech Republic's most popular commercial television station, TV Nova, saw a landmark decision on Thursday: the High Court in Prague ruled in favour of TV Nova's controversial and enigmatic general director, Vladimir Zelezny. reports:

Those of you who've visited London will have heard of 'the Big Issue', a magazine sold by homeless people. The Big Issue has proved highly successful, and has sparked a number of similar schemes in various cities throughout the world. One of them is the Czech Republic, which recently celebrated the anniversary of Patron magazine, also known as Novy Prostor. This counter-culture magazine is unique because it's run as a non-profit organization intent on providing an income to the unemployed and homeless. brings this report:

And now we turn to a frequent topic in the Czech Republic: accession to the European Union. A major part of the accession process has been to bring Czech law into line with the EU. One of the laws which has been recently passed and which comes into effect on January 1 is a law banning smoking in the work place and in many public places. A great number of Czechs will be effected by the clampdown, a large percentage of which will be teenagers. So what makes them take up the habit despite the constant media health warnings. gets the view from the school yard as to why so many young people smoke while the older generation is desperately trying to quit:

Leading representatives of the Belarus opposition left Prague on Thursday, after a four-day visit, during which they met top representatives of the Czech Republic, including President Havel. reports.

The most dramatic, longest and most expensive U.S. presidential elections ever have finally come to an end. On Wednesday, after 35 days of political and legal battles, George Walker Bush Junior claimed the presidency by one of the narrowest margins in U.S. history. Radio Prague's talked to political commentator Jan Culik, and asked him whether he thought bilateral relations between the United States and Europe, in particular the Czech Republic, would be affected by the election of Mr. Bush:

A new art exhibition opens at the Veletrzni Palac of the National Gallery on December 13 that presents interactive abstract art with important contemporary implications. A group of graphic artists and architects are in the process of creating a man-sized computer sphere which they hope to integrate into modern university education courses. This exhibit follows their progress. has this report:

The prime ministers of the Czech Republic and neighbouring Austria met late into the night on Tuesday for talks on the controversial Temelin nuclear power plant in South Bohemia. Temelin has proved a constant irritant to relations between Prague and Vienna over the past few months, and the dispute escalated sharply in October when the Czech Republic activated Temelin in spite of Austrian fears over safety. But the two prime ministers emerged from Tuesday's meeting with something that looks like a compromise. has more:

The Czech parliament elected this country's first ever ombudsman on Tuesday. Otakar Motejl, the former justice minister, has take on the difficult task of protecting the rights of Czech citizens, whenever they are infringed upon by unjust decisions taken by state officials, or, for that matter, when the authorities fail to act within a reasonable period of time. reports: