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In 2001, the Czech Republic came 47th out of the 91 countries on Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index. That's far behind most of the developed countries of Europe, North America and Asia and even some post-communist countries such as Estonia, Hungary and Slovenia. The Supreme State Attorney Marie Benesova has decided that things have gone too far, and has proposed a new and controversial method to combat corruption in the Czech Republic.

As expected the Czech Republic's admission to the EU has become an important election issue. What came as a surprise is the fact that the planned "pro-EU strategy" of the vast majority of Czech politicians has turned into a defense of Czech national interests, in connection with renewed controversy over the Benes decrees, and promises that Czechs would not lose out by joining the EU.

There are more than 10,000 families in Prague who live in council flats but never pay their rent. They can get away with it for months or years even after they are ordered out of the flat by the courts, as reports.

As in most European countries, military service is compulsory here in the Czech Republic. All young men have to spend a year in the army, and those who choose to do civil duty instead have to do it for 18 months. The only way to avoid military service completely is to have a doctor's certificate proving you have serious health problems. However, a bill on reforming the army may mean that even people with incurable illnesses could be forced to do military service. prepared this report.

A strict ban on video and film cameras was introduced on Monday at the Czech Republic's Terezin memorial, in response to claims in a tabloid newspaper that a porn actor-producer was planning to use the former concentration camp as the setting for his latest erotic film. The Czech tabloid Super claimed on Saturday that porn star Robert Rosenberg was working on a new film called "The Way It Was," featuring shots of SS officers having sex with female prisoners. Unsurprisingly, Terezin's mayor as well as groups representing former political

The stately "Narodni Dùm" building in Prague's Vinohrady district resounded with accordions at the weekend, as the second annual European accordion festival got underway. was there and brings back this report:

Have you ever driven along a major Czech road and been distracted by the large number of billboards along the way? Actually, many of them were put up illegally, without the consent of the Highway Authority. But the situation, which many have complained about, is soon going to change, as the Ministry of Transport wants to see all the illegal billboards removed. has the details.

On Sunday evenings trains and buses going from Bratislava to Prague are crammed with young Slovaks. An increasing number of them are working and living in the Czech Republic and heading home only on weekends. What is behind this migration wave and why are so many Slovaks choosing to settle in Prague?

The dispute over the post-war expulsion of two and a half million ethnic Germans from Czechoslovakia was reinvigorated on Sunday, after the head of the Landsmannschaft - the largest organisation representing Sudeten Germans - appeared on a Czech TV discussion programme. Landsmannschaft chairman Bernt Posselt confirmed that plans were underfoot to open an office in Prague, a delicate announcement given the simmering dispute over the post-war expulsion and possible compensation. Earlier my colleague Rob Cameron spoke to the BBC's Petr Brod, a Czech

Tourists who came to Prague in the last two years may have been disappointed to find one of the most prominent monuments closed for visitors. The steel lookout tower on Petrin Hill was under reconstruction. First built 111 years ago for the Czech Jubilee Exhibition, the Czech version of the famous Eiffel Tower is offering a magnificent view of Prague once again. Pavla Horakova reports.