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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:

It hasn't been a very happy few weeks for Czech-Austrian relations. The Czech-Austrian border was blockaded recently by crowds of Austrian demonstrators, furious at Prague's decision to launch the Temelin nuclear power plant despite Austrian fears over safety. The stand-off between Vienna and Prague went all the way to the top - senior officials, including the Czech Prime Minister Milos Zeman, said they wouldn't talk to the Austrians until the blockades were dispersed. Well, the demonstrators have now gone home, and Czech-Austrian relations are

Believe it not, several British teachers claimed recently that children who own mobile phones are less likely to start smoking. Having a mobile, they say, is considered a symbol of adulthood, the same as smoking a cigarette. So what about Czech kids? reports on the situation in the Czech Republic:

Eduard Goldstucker, a renowned scholar of 20th-century German literature and Czechoslovakia's leading authority on Franz Kafka, died on Monday at the age of eighty-seven. During his life he was forced into exile twice. First in 1939 after the German occupation--as a German Jew he fled for his life--and again in 1968 after the armies of the Warsaw Pact countries invaded Czechoslovakia. Despite being forced to leave by the Communist Party, he remained an ardent communist throughout his life. has this report:

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

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