Current Affairs | All stories

This week Prague plays host to the seventh annual Next Wave theatre festival which is held from the 6th to the 15th of October. Next Wave is a broad-ranging festival encompassing modern dance, spoken word, theatre, circus acts and musical pieces. went to the one of the shows to find out more:

Monday's Lidove Noviny newspaper reported on living conditions for pensioners in the Czech Republic, and compared it with that of both Slovakia and Germany. Not surprisingly, the standard of living for a Czech pensioner is far below that of the average German, but how well is the older generation coping here in the Czech Republic? reports:

There is nothing now to stop the Czech Republic from launching its second nuclear power station, situated outside the little village of Temelin in South Bohemia. The plant has been the subject of international scrutiny, numerous safety surveys and cross-border disputes, but this week Temelin becomes reality. reports:

After months of heated controversy over the Temelin nuclear power plant in southern Bohemia, it now appears that the launch of trial operation may be just hours away. That hasn't deterred anti-nuclear activists though, who say they're determined to fight on. has the story:

Now I'm sure there isn't a single reader around the world who hasn't read at least one detective novel. Crime stories have become an integral part of our lives and many of us have our favourite detectives, whether it's Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot or Perry Mason. Crime writers have their own worldwide organisation, the International Association of Crime Writers, and this week it meets in Prague. has this report:

Czechs have been following the latest developments in Serbia with great hope and sincere sympathy. These are not just events going on in a distant part of the world, they are close to Czechs. explains why that is so:

The police have categorically denied claims from anti-globalisation protesters that they were beaten and generally mistreated by Czech police following demonstrations against last week's IMF and World Bank meetings in Prague. But as reports, foreign media continue to publish numerous allegations of police brutality. The following testimony is from a 20-year-old Czech student, quoted by the weekly Internet journal, Central Europe Review:

On Wednesday, police near the western Bohemian town of Cheb intercepted a tanker lorry carrying several dozen illegal immigrants from Southeast Asia towards the German border. One of the refugees was found dead, another injured. An investigation ascertained that both men sustained head injuries when they opened the back of the lorry while it was in motion and failed to see an oncoming bridge. The Czech lorry driver has been arrested and faces charges of smuggling. has this report:

The world-renowned philosopher and writer, Umberto Eco, is in Prague this week to accept an award from the Vision 97 foundation, set up by President Vaclav Havel and his wife Dagmar. took the chance to catch up with Eco and ask him about his work: