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A financial dispute pitting the Social Democrat government against parliament has raised questions about the Czech Republic's ability to finance its contribution to the U.S.-led "war on terrorism." The government is asking parliament to approve a 35 million-dollar funding package to pay for deploying a Czech army field hospital in Afghanistan and a chemical warfare unit in Kuwait, as requested by the United States and Britain. But earlier this week the lower house rejected the plan to finance the missions through the issuing of state-backed bonds.

A festival of blues music will be held on the last weekend of May in Revnice near Prague. The festival is being held for the third time this year, and it's becoming more and more popular, especially among those who do not like to go to concerts in large venues. Alena Skodova has more:

The tiny central Bohemian village of Kacov can hardly lay claim to fame exactly, but it has received a fair bit of attention in the past six years. Not so long ago NATO officials allegedly zeroed in on a bizarre looking unidentified object near Kacov on their satellite maps of central Europe and asked the Czech defence ministry for an explanation. As it turned out, the bizarre looking object had nothing to do with the Czech Republic's military arsenal - it was the biggest collection of used refrigerators in the world - over 1,800 of

Last week, a legend of modern Czech sculpture, Karel Nepras, died of a stroke in a Prague hospital. It seems like a trick of fate that a man who had always mocked absurd things died just two days after his 70th birthday, at a time, when a retrospective exhibition of his life-long work is being prepared.

How much advertising can one stand? Advertising has permeated our daily lives to such an extent that it is virtually impossible to avoid. The Prague authorities have now put their foot down and banned what Czechs have come to call "walking" ads - on the grounds that this form of advertising in the streets of the Czech capital is a nuisance which irritates both the locals and foreign visitors. Daniela Lazarova has the story:

The British Prime Minister Tony Blair touched down in Prague on Monday for a brief visit to the Czech Republic, holding talks with Czech officials on his way home from the United States. Top of the agenda in Prague was the crisis in the Middle East - a Czech anti-chemical unit was recently deployed in Kuwait to protect the U.S. command headquarters in Kuwait City. But Mr Blair also found time to praise the Czech Republic for progress towards joining the EU, adding there was still room for co-operation within Europe on a "nation state"

The Czech Technical University, which celebrated the 295th anniversary of its foundation earlier this year, hosted the 64th meeting of the Czech Conference of Rectors on Friday. Coincidentally, the oldest Czech university, Charles University, remembered 654 years of its existence last week. Pavla Horakova has more.

Monday was the International Day of Roma. While April 8 has been celebrated as International Day of Roma since 1971, last year was the first time it was marked in the Czech Republic. After a seminar on Roma identity in Prague a ceremony took place in which daffodils were thrown into the River Vltava on Monday afternoon. On a very windy Charles Bridge, Yvetta Kenety of the Romany organisation Athinganoi told Radio Prague why.

The Czech scout organization, Junak, is currently celebrating 90 years of its existence. Last Saturday, Junak clubrooms throughout the country held an open day to let their members' parents and all those who'd like to learn more about this organization get acquainted with the life and activities of young Czech scouts. Alena Skodova visited one scout group and has this report:

A vast section of Europe badly affected by Communist industrialisation is slowly beginning to heal from decades of environmental abuse, but faces new pressure in the era of globalisation. Well, that was the warning issued this weekend by a "sustainable development" conference in Prague, featuring representatives of governments, universities and non-profit groups from throughout Central Europe.