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A new art exhibition opens at the Veletrzni Palac of the National Gallery on December 13 that presents interactive abstract art with important contemporary implications. A group of graphic artists and architects are in the process of creating a man-sized computer sphere which they hope to integrate into modern university education courses. This exhibit follows their progress. has this report:

The prime ministers of the Czech Republic and neighbouring Austria met late into the night on Tuesday for talks on the controversial Temelin nuclear power plant in South Bohemia. Temelin has proved a constant irritant to relations between Prague and Vienna over the past few months, and the dispute escalated sharply in October when the Czech Republic activated Temelin in spite of Austrian fears over safety. But the two prime ministers emerged from Tuesday's meeting with something that looks like a compromise. has more:

The Czech parliament elected this country's first ever ombudsman on Tuesday. Otakar Motejl, the former justice minister, has take on the difficult task of protecting the rights of Czech citizens, whenever they are infringed upon by unjust decisions taken by state officials, or, for that matter, when the authorities fail to act within a reasonable period of time. reports:

The publisher of a new Czech edition of Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf, Michal Zitko, was given a 3-year suspended sentence and fined two million crowns by a district court in Prague on Monday. The Czech translation, published in March, differs from other editions because it doesn't contain any commentary to a text which served as the ideological foundation of the Nazi movement and will be forever associated with World War II and the Holocaust. That is one of the main reasons why Mr Zitek was taken to court in the first place: by publishing Hitler's manifesto he was accused of supporting and spreading fascist ideas. The case has been widely discussed, with some saying that in view of recent skinhead and other racist attacks against minorities, publications like Mein Kampf were dangerous. Others say that the trial was a breach of the freedom of speech. RP's asked commentator Vaclav Zak what he thought of the court's ruling:

On Monday, the Slovak Interior Ministry announced that the former Slovak Intelligence Service, under the government of Prime Minister Vladimir Meciar, planned to sabotage its neighbours' aspirations to NATO and EU membership. More from :

One of the issues affecting the whole of Europe is of course BSE, or mad cow disease, and its human form, new variant Creutzfeldt-Jakobs Disease, otherwise known as vCJD. Following the emergence of new cases of BSE in countries previously thought to be safe from the disease, the Czech authorities have come under increasing pressure to reassure the public that Czech beef is safe. The Czech Veterinary Inspectorate has sought to calm public fears on several occasions in the last few weeks, announcing that meat and bone meal--which scientists believe

Forty days after his escape from the top-security Mirov prison, the most sought-for man in the Czech Republic, Jiri Kajinek, was hunted down by a special police unit in a Prague flat on Friday evening. Kajinek was serving a life sentence for murdering two people, and this was not for the first time he had escaped from prison. has the details:

After Canada, Great Britain, and Belgium, New Zealand appears to have become a target country for Czech asylum seekers. On average, 11 Czechs who enter New Zealand every month apply for asylum, and close to 200 Czechs have requested asylum this year. None of their applications have been granted, and since this is apparently not deterring others, the New Zealand government has announced it is suspending its visa-free agreement with the Czech Republic. has the story: