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Education representatives from New Zealand and the Czech Republic met Monday with honored guest New Zealand Education Minister Trevor Mallard. The meeting was simply a platform in which dedicated advocates could share their different approaches to achieving the same goal: excellence in education. The organizers, the Prague Society for International Cooperation, is a non-partisan organization whose aim is to develop its already existing network and promote global responsibility in a myriad of areas. As the Czech Republic's education system faces

The latest Czech police statistics shows that a quarter of all reported crimes could be qualified as domestic violence. Nine out of ten cases of violence against women are committed in the home. Fifty percent of murdered women are killed by their own partners after being physically or psychologically tortured.

Following three years of negotiations on the biggest military purchase in the Czech Republic's history -a fleet of supersonic fighter jets to replace the Air Force's aging MiG 21s - the government is back to square one. Having cancelled earlier plans to buy 24 supersonic Gripen fighter jets from the British Swedish consortium BAE Systems and Saab due to a mounting budget deficit, the Cabinet has said it intends to purchase 14 used planes and invited nine countries to present their offers. There is one major difference - this time the purchase won't

Hundreds of people have been queuing up outside bookshops in Prague and Brno, eager to get their hands on a signed copy of "Madam Secretary" - the memoirs of former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. Ms Albright, born Marie Korbelova in Prague, arrived in her native city on Friday, for a five-day visit. The story of the refugee girl from Czechoslovakia who made it to the top of the U.S. political establishment is still a source of pride for many here.

A meeting of representatives of World Religions took place on Sunday at Prague's Obecni Dum, or Municipal House. Former Czech President Vaclav Havel brought together prominent Buddhist, Islamic, Jewish and Christian leaders including his Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama. It was a follow-up to a five-year series of Forum 2000 conferences that Mr Havel has arranged in Prague since 1997. He opened the forum to discussion by reminding the public of the importance of humility before the order of nature; our political social landscape has entered a chase

In the world press the plight of independent journalists in Belarus has been largely ignored in recent years, but on Friday the former Czech president Vaclav Havel offered a symbolic gesture of support to one journalist struggling under the Lukashenko regime. Mr Havel received the Hanno R. Ellenbogen award for his contribution to democracy in Central Europe and decided to pass on the financial part of the award to Andrej Dynko, editor-in-chief of the independent Belarussian political and cultural weekly, Nasha Niva. It was an act of solidarity

After seven months in office, President Vaclav Klaus walked into Parliament and did what he was always so good at: he slammed the governing coalition, criticized the state budget and warned against the pitfalls of the European Constitution. It was a passionate address worthy of an opposition leader, angering some who say the president is meant to be impartial.

For the last 20 years, the composer and passionate mushroom-picker Vaclav Halek has been strolling through Bohemia's woods and fields, carrying a traditional mushroom-picker's basket, a small knife, and a notebook with the musical scale. Vaclav Halek claims he can hear the "song" of the mushroom, and has more than 2,000 compositions to prove it - from film and theatre scores right up to a full symphony. He's even produced a "Musical Atlas of Mushrooms", complete with its own CD. Rob Cameron went for a walk in the woods with this rather unorthodox

This weekend, Prague hosts a number of international conferences bringing together important personalities and world thinkers to discuss and find ways of approaching important world issues. One such conference begins on Friday. Organised by Senate Deputy-Chairman Jan Ruml and PASS - the Programme of Atlantic Security Studies, it focuses on NATO's future role in the Middle East. Czech Senator Michael Zantovsky explains why:

The days of compulsory military service in the Czech Republic are numbered. The Czech Defence Ministry announced on Wednesday that by the end of 2004 the country would have a fully professional army. The news evoked huge relief among 18 year olds who will now be free to pursue a career of their choice.