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March 10th of the year 1959 is a black day in the history of the Tibetan people their freedom uprising was crushed by the Chinese, their spiritual leader Dalaj Lama was forced to flee the country along with other supporters of the uprising, and the people of Tibet were subjected to the harsh conditions of a military regime.

The 8th annual "Days of European Film" festival opened in Prague on Thursday night. It features more than 35 films from 24 different European countries.

The government decided on Wednesday to gradually fade out its transitional policy of regulating rent prices for privately owned property as well as for council flats. A new law proposed by the cabinet will allow owners to determine the level of rent for new tenants, and the authorities will only intervene when the two sides cannot agree. For current tenants an increase of 10 percent annually is allowed. has more:

March 8th is International Women's Day, not that you'd notice it in the Czech Republic. Throughout the years of Communist rule, it was a major event. Women who had achieved outstanding results at work and who had toed the party line were given awards by the state, all women received presents at work, and there were celebrations everywhere, frequently with the women doing all the work and the men drinking until late at night - which just proved the real position of women in society.

On Wednesday the cabinet appointed Jan Jarab as the new head of the government's Council for Human Rights. The Council acts as an advisory body to the Czech government. It's Mr Jarab's job to see that the rights of the country's ten million citizens are respected, and to advise the government when they're not. One of Mr Jarab's first tasks will be to submit a motion to the Justice Ministry, calling for an amendment to strengthen the legal rights of the mentally ill. and asked Mr Jarab to explain what was wrong with the current system.

Prime Minister Milos Zeman ended a three-day visit to Spain on Wednesday, the third in a series of official visits to European Union countries at a crucial time for his country's bid to join the EU. In February he visited Sweden, which currently holds the rotating presidency of the EU, and shortly afterwards he boarded a plane for Belgium, which will take over in the second half of this year.

Czech musicians scored a tremendous success at the MIDEM music fair in Cannes in France. Violinist Bohuslav Matousek and pianist Petr Adamec received the highest award in the category of 20th century chamber music, the 2001 Cannes Classical Award, for a recording featuring a complete work for violin and piano by Bohuslav Martinu. reports.

Now, is the Czech far right trying to make a serious attempt to force its way into mainstream politics? Many had written off the far right as a significant political force in the Czech Republic.

It's just over two months since the changes to Czech road regulations came into effect. One of the most closely observed changes has been the transferral of right of way at zebra crossings from driver to pedestrian. Alarmingly though, six people were killed on pedestrian crossings in January, compared to two during the same month last year.

The Czech government recently approved a National Employment Plan for 2001 - a bid to tackle unemployment, which currently stands at around 9 percent. The plan focuses on support for job creation and re-qualification, protection against illegal employment and improving conditions for small and medium-sized businesses. But what do the Czech Republic's regions make of the government's efforts? is Radio Prague's correspondent in Ostrava - a region with around 15 percent unemployment - and at the other end of the country is , Radio Prague's man in Plzen, where around 6.5 percent of the population are out of work. I asked them which industrial sectors had suffered the most in the ten years since the fall of Communism.