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More and more question marks are hanging over the future of Health Minister Marie Souckova and her proposed reform of the health care sector. According to observers, the former protégée of Prime Minister Vladimir Spidla is losing the support of her colleagues in government and the Prime Minister himself. The government's scepticism of Ms Souckova's capability to carry out a successful reform of the health care system is so strong, that the cabinet has turned to the World Bank for help in designing a viable system of financing of the health care

This Thursday the English rock band British Sea Power - who have an affection for all things Czech - are playing a concert at the Roxy club in Prague at which they will be launching a new single that will only be available in the Czech Republic. The song "A Lovely Day Tomorrow/Zitra Bude Krasny Den" appears in both English and Czech on the limited edition release, with both versions sung by Katerina Winterova of the Czech band Ecstasy of St Theresa.

The Czech Confederation of Trade Unions has warned people against already excessive and fast growing indebtedness. Every Czech household on average owes nearly a half-year's wages. Although the Central Bank has repeatedly expressed concern about the trend, commercial banks have not started worrying as yet.

One of the most highly respected foreign journalists in Prague, Alan Levy, passed away at the age of 72 on Friday after a short but brave battle with cancer. Mr. Levy was editor in chief of the Prague Post, a popular English language weekly which he helped to establish in 1991. His column, "Prague Profile," introducing personalities from all walks of life was one of the weekly's most popular features. In the course of his career, Mr. Levy interviewed personalities such as the former Czech President Vaclav Havel, Fidel Castro, the Beatles, Sophia

The Czech Republic's civil service unions have announced that they are going on a one-hour strike in two week's time in protest at significant cuts to their thirteenth month's salary, a form of bonus. Employees - usually civil servants - receive a thirteenth month's salary just before Christmas, and if they are lucky enough to get a fourteenth month's salary it normally comes at the beginning of the summer.

Last Saturday, was the 90th anniversary of the birth of Czech novelist Bohumil Hrabal, who died in 1997. To mark the occasion, a small monument has been unveiled on the street where he lived in Prague. A foundation stone has also been laid for a new Bohumil Hrabal centre, which will be dedicated to the writer's life and work.

The Charter 77 Foundation has launched an interesting new project called Making Chances Equal; it supports computer literacy in schools for blind students and children with locomotive disorders. Last week, the foundation provided such schools with 108 special computer appliances, including 23 Braille terminals used to convert computer writing into Braille. This allows blind students to read with their fingers what a sighted person can see on the screen.

While many European countries have been dealing with football violence for decades, in the Czech Republic it is a relatively recent phenomenon, one of the more unwelcome imports which followed the fall of the Communist system. Now legislators are preparing a new law to combat the problem. Jan Obst is the chairman of the Czech Football Association:

The plight of some 50 North Korean seamstresses who are working legally in the Czech Republic but who are by all accounts being exploited by the embassy of the totalitarian North Korean state is now filling the front pages of all Czech dailies. Daniela Lazarova has been following the story and joins me now in the studio. Daniela what's the situation exactly?

Hundreds of people went on one last shopping spree in the Czech Republic's duty free shops on Wednesday before they definitely closed down at midnight. By closing time the shelves with cigarettes and alcohol were bare.