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A vast section of Europe badly affected by Communist industrialisation is slowly beginning to heal from decades of environmental abuse, but faces new pressure in the era of globalisation. Well, that was the warning issued this weekend by a "sustainable development" conference in Prague, featuring representatives of governments, universities and non-profit groups from throughout Central Europe.

On Thursday, an American stuntman was killed during the filming of a Hollywood movie called Triple X in Prague. In recent years, locations in Prague and the Czech Republic as a whole have become immensely popular with film crews from Western countries. Alena Skodova has more:

This Saturday the Czech sumo wrestling championships take place at Prague's Congress Centre, complete with an appearance by American Emanuel Yarbrough, the exceedingly large world sumo champion. Sumo wrestling is a relatively new sport here in the Czech Republic, but it is - so to speak - getting bigger. Last year a young man called Pavel Bojar became the first Czech to become a professional sumo wrestler in Japan. Ian Willoughby has the story.

One of the most senior figures in the Czech Catholic Church - former dissident Bishop Vaclav Maly - has created a major stir by speaking out in favour of legalising prostitution in the Czech Republic. As a rule, prostitution and related issues get only sporadic attention from the media but the fact that it is a Catholic bishop who has spoken out has given the issue unprecedented publicity. Daniela Lazarova has the story.

Since 1967 April 2nd has been the International Day of Children's Books. On that day in 1805, the world-famous Danish fairy-tale writer Hans Christian Andersen was born. In the Czech Republic, the Komensky Pedagogical Library in Prague organizes a poll, where children send their votes for the best book they have read that particular year. Alena Skodova has more:

The historic Bohemian Hall in New York City became the property of the Czech state in December. The Hall, sometimes referred to as the "Czech National Building" was built at the end of the 19th century from the funds of Czech-American associations. Now, three months after the purchase, renovation work has got underway on the building which enjoys the status of a Landmark of the City of New York. Pavla Horakova has more.

Have you ever wondered how much developments in Central Europe around the year 1000 have affected Central Europe today? According to the historians, modern society was to a great extent shaped by historic events and turning points that happened a thousand years ago, and many say today's generation of Central Europeans can learn a lot from their predecessors. Dita Asiedu has more:

Last year security checks revealed there were a number of former agents of the communist-era secret police in senior posts in the civil service, even though the law bars them from these positions. The former agents managed to retain their jobs thanks to negative screening certificates they received from the Interior Ministry during the 1990's. As Pavla Horakova reports, two of the former agents came into close daily contact with President Havel, himself harassed for years by the communist secret police.

Every year at around about this time thousands of frogs migrate to an appropriate breeding ground -and endanger their lives in the process. In some 200 locations in the Czech Republic this annual migration leads across a busy road and an estimated twenty percent of the frog population is killed by motorists. In many areas of the country environmentalists are thinking of ways around this problem -and it is not always easy. In some cases there is no alternative but to give the frogs "a helping hand" - across the road. In other words, to put up a

In unprecedented verdicts, two courts - one in Prague and the other in Hradec Kralove - sentenced two neo-Nazi skinheads to seven and thirteen years in prison respectively for violent attacks. Both have appealed and their cases will be ruled in higher courts, but the sentences were unusually high.