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September 11th- a year has passed since that dreadful September Tuesday in 2001 when terrorists shocked the world - and changed it forever - by flying hijacked passenger jets into the Twin Towers in New York and the Pentagon in Washington.

When the United States ambassador to Prague, Craig Stapleton, took up his post at the end of August last year, little could he have suspected what horrors lay ahead for his country. Two weeks later, the World Trade Centre was in ruins and thousands of Mr Stapleton's fellow-citizens had been killed in terrorist attacks. Czech Radio's Pavla Kvapilova spoke to US ambassador Craig Stapleton on Tuesday, and began by asking him what he was doing when he first heard about the attack on New York.

The Czech Republic's economic performance has worsened in the second quarter of 2002, sending the country to the bottom of the table of EU candidate countries. GDP growth in the second quarter slowed to 2.5 percent year-on-year, from 2.8 percent in the first quarter. It is the worst result since the end of 2000. However, economic analyst Petr Zahradnik of the Conseq Finance company says the result is not as bad as it may seem:

Why is the most important art form of the 20th century not being studied at Czech secondary schools? That is a question being asked by a group of people in the Czech film world, who have started a project to introduce classic films - accompanied by seminars and lectures - to the country's school system. The project is the brainchild of Jiri Kralik, the director of the Summer Film School in Uherske Hradiste. Ivo Andrle, who runs the independent cinema Aero in Prague, is also involved. I spoke to Ivo Andrle earlier, and asked him what was the basic

The collapse of the ruling coalition in Austria has made headlines throughout Europe, and developments in the country will certainly be watched closely here in the Czech Republic. The far-right Freedom Party - which caused the collapse of the coalition - have for years exploited tensions in Czech-Austrian relations, over issues such as safety at the Temelin nuclear power plant and the post-war Benes decrees. The return to the fore of Joerg Haider - by far the party's most outspoken critic of the Czech Republic - could exacerbate those tensions

On Tuesday morning a memorial ceremony was held on the D 1 motorway between Prague and Brno to remember the 10th anniversary of the car crash which resulted in the death of Alexander Dubcek, one of the most important figures of Czechoslovak post-war history. Alena Skodova has more:

The People in Need Foundation, a prominent and highly experienced humanitarian aid organization, which has long provided aid to the needy in countries such as Chechnya and Afghanistan, now has its hands full helping hundreds of thousands of flood victims in the Czech Republic. In the wake of the floods its coordinators visited close to a hundred afflicted villages, organized close to 900 volunteers and dispatched tons of humanitarian aid to different parts of the Czech Republic. People in Need has now collected over 130 million crowns in public

Is the Czech government divided over Iraq? The Defence Minister Jaroslav Tvrdik said recently he was more slightly more hawkish on military action against Saddam Hussein than his colleagues, suggesting that there are divisions within the cabinet. But how deep are these divisions, and could they cause problems if the Czechs are asked to assist in a U.S. military campaign? Jiri Pehe is a leading analyst and external advisor to President Vaclav Havel.

The picturesque medieval town of Kutna Hora, around 70 kilometres east of Prague, was once one of the largest towns in Europe, and was a centre of copper and silver mining. Nowadays, it is extremely popular with tourists, and one of the latest attractions in the town is a museum of alchemy. I recently visited the alchemy museum, which is located in the perfect setting of the Sankturnin Palace, on Kutna Hora's main square.

The first cases of infectious diseases have occurred in the Czech Republic in the wake of recent floods in the country. Health officials say people have contracted flood-related diseases mostly during clean-up operations when they have worked without protective gear.