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This Friday is the 5th anniversary of the expansion of NATO that brought former Warsaw Pact countries Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic into the organisation's fold. Just two weeks later NATO launched its first ever military offensive - against Yugoslavia, an event that deeply divided Czech public opinion. 9/11 was a further shock to the alliance and it has yet to fully define its new role in international security. This report on how the Czech Republic's place within the alliance has changed since 1999.

The issue of security is on everybody's minds after the terrible blasts in Madrid on Thursday. Poland, for instance, has stepped up security at its borders and put police on heightened alert. Is the Czech Republic going to do likewise?

Prague Fashion Week is now underway. This annual event aims to raise the profile of the Czech fashion industry and showcase talented designers, who will be parading their work at various venues throughout the city.

Thursday's massacre in Madrid has shocked the international community, provoking condemnation from governments around the world and evoking fears that the killings could be just the start of a bigger terrorist campaign. In the Czech Republic government officials have expressed their condolences to the people of Spain and condemned the attack as "a terrible atrocity". Prime Minister Vladimir Spidla said that Thursday's events in the Spanish capital provided further proof of the fact that terrorism cannot be tolerated in any form and that the Czech Republic

The Central Bohemian Regional Court was swarming with reporters on Wednesday in anticipation of a ruling on the case against the former Czech finance minister Ivo Svododa and his close aide Barbora Snopkova. Both were found guilty of fraud and sentenced to five and five and a half years in jail respectively. Svoboda is the first former cabinet minister to be served a prison sentence since the fall of communism in 1989.

On Monday, Prague's cosy little Café Vesmirna, just off Wenceslas Square, opened an exhibition of photographs featuring people with disabilities. The exhibition was organised by the Mame Otevreno (Are We Open?) NGO, dedicated to the integration of people with mental disabilities into the work force and society in general. The exhibits on show are the work of photographer Petr Kralik, who was approached by Mame Otevreno to accompany its clients in their everyday lives. Dita Asiedu spoke to the organisation's fundraiser Helena Kalasova, who says

At the beginning of the month an angry mob gathered outside the office of the government, lobbying against a state energy policy proposed by the Industry and Trade Ministry. The controversy over the policy, which is to be in place until 2030, was due to its abolishment of coal mining restrictions, as well as plans to build two new nuclear reactors. Vojtech Kotecky works for the non-governmental organisation, Friends of the Earth, and was there at the protest. His organisation has been campaigning against the new energy policy for the past year.

On Wednesday March 10, 2004, people around the world commemorate the 45th anniversary of the Tibetan uprising that was crushed by the Chinese communist army. Oppression in Tibet is not just a matter of the past and the night before the anniversary a candlelight procession was held in 12 cities in the Czech Republic. The symbolic event was dedicated to a Tibetan political prisoner, and is part of a worldwide campaign coordinated in the Czech Republic. The Buddhist leader Tenzin Delek Rinpoche, is currently being held by the Chinese authorities and

Schools across the country have held a day of mourning for the teacher who was stabbed to death by one of his own students in the east Bohemian town of Svitavy last week. Schools hoisted black flags in honour of his memory and teachers abandoned regular classes in favour of a debate on violence and aggression in schools.

The Czech Republic has overcome a past "boom" in drug abuse and the situation is now far more stable. The government now wants to focus more on the prevention of organised crime, illegal drugs sales and distribution, as well as the negative health impacts on continuing drug abusers.