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The Czech Republic lost one of its most popular humorists on Monday when Miloslav Simek succumbed to leukaemia. This year the well-known actor / comedian whose career spanned forty years, would have turned 64. Active until just before his death Mr Simek had planned to tour several towns in the Czech Republic to stage and pre-tape episodes of 'Politicke haraseni', the popular satirical programme he hosted with comedic partner Zuzana Bubilkova at TV Nova. The expression Politicke haraseni could be loosely translated as Political Harassment but Political

The Czech state provides each disabled child in institutional care with subsidies of over 70,000 crowns every year. But if parents decide to take care of their child at home, they get nothing - even though one of the parents usually has to give up his or her job to be able to provide full time assistance to the child. The National Council for Handicapped People says this practice is discriminatory and even unconstitutional. That's why it has decided to file a complaint with the Constitutional Court - in a manner it hoped would bring the public's

Czech President Vaclav Klaus has rejected a draft treaty between Prague and the Holy See, which defines the status of the Roman Catholic Church in the Czech Republic. This makes the Czech Republic the only post-Communist state not to have such an agreement with the Vatican. In a letter addressed to Foreign Minister Cyril Svoboda, who has been leading negotiations with the Vatican, Mr Klaus objected to several terms in the treaty, saying it gives the Catholic Church too high a standing in the Czech Republic. Mr Klaus also opposes a pledge to look

The annual Holiday World trade fair was held in Prague at the weekend. Now in its thirteenth year, the event has become one of the most important events of its kind in Central Europe and attracts around 30,000 visitors. The huge level of interest that Holiday World generates is indicative of the massive upsurge in outgoing tourism from the Czech Republic since the fall of communism.

The Czech public transport system often comes in for praise: tickets are affordable and there are few places in the country that are inaccessible without a car. The national rail operator, Ceske Drahy, or Czech Railways, carries half a million passengers a day, a huge figure in a country of only ten million. But a dispute between Czech Railways management and its drivers could leave hundreds of thousands of people stranded for two days.

It's that time of year again. Saturday, in case you didn't know, is St. Valentine's Day. Although the origins of this tradition are uncertain, it has long been customary for people in the Anglo-Saxon world to give their lovers a small token of appreciation such as flowers or cards on this day. In recent years, St. Valentine's Day has also been establishing itself as a tradition in the Czech Republic.

Following the recent passing in the Senate of a bill on improving air quality, the government on Wednesday approved a further plan to cut emission levels from over a hundred major polluters, to meet European criteria. Zuzana Vesela has more.

This week, the Society for Czech Landscape and the Czech Chamber of Architects announced that preparations were underway for their third conference on the state of both the urban and rural environment in the Czech Republic. The conference, which was first held on the initiative of former President Václav Havel, provides a discussion platform for those who have a professional or personal interest in the Czech landscape.

Fourteen years after the end of communist rule the Czechs are still not living in a free market economy. One of the relics of the communist state controlled economy that previous governments did not have the courage to do away with, has come back to haunt the current ruling coalition. It is called "regulated rents". A measure which guarantees about a third of Czech households stable, low rents, often in areas where unfortunate tenants pay several times more for similar flats. While the parties in the governing coalition are haggling over a ten

Many well known personalities from the world of Czech culture gathered on Tuesday to denounce government plans to increase VAT on cultural events from 5 percent to 19 percent. Among them were actresses Jirina Bohdalova and Jirina Jiraskova, actors Rudolf Hrusinsky and Tomas Topfer and the Oscar-nominated director Ondrej Trojan. The venue was provided by the culture minister, Pavel Dostal, who describes the proposed tax hike as "nonsense", and has said he will break cabinet ranks and vote against it.