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Zdenek Macal is one of the most celebrated Czech conductors, and for the next three seasons he will be succeeding Vladimir Ashkenazy as chief conductor of the Czech Philharmonic. During a long career, much of it spent in the United States, the 66-year-old Zdenek Macal has conducted many of the world's great orchestras, and his achievements with the Milwaukee and New Jersey Symphony Orchestras have been a classic American success story. So how will he bring his legendary energy and enthusiasm to bear on one of Central Europe's most renowned cultural

What are the Czech and Slovak nations like ten years after the breakup of Czechoslovakia? The differences and similarities between them are revealed in a study released last week by the Median research company.

It's been five days since Vaclav Havel vacated the seat of Czech President and although the constitution stipulates that both houses of parliament can begin electing a new head of state thirty days before the end of the term, the Czech Republic is still struggling to find a successor to Vaclav Havel. The public has been showing a growing dissatisfaction with the political parties' inability to find a widely acceptable candidate and there has been an increasing number of voices calling for a direct presidential election. Dita Asiedu reports:

The country's five leading brewers are setting a new trend in the business - they have drafted and adopted a strict new code of ethics that goes beyond the regulations set by the law on advertising. Commitment to this new code of ethics is voluntary and the smaller brewers in the country - of which there are many - have so far failed to respond to an appeal to support the initiative. Its advocates claim that although sales and profit margins are important there are certain boundaries that should not be crossed. Czechs are the world leaders in beer

The mammoth task of bringing Czech law into line with that of the European Union has led to many changes, and grumbles from some people who don't like to see their traditions being eroded. Recently the government rubber-stamped an amendment on animal welfare, which opponents say could spell the end of traditional Czech circuses if approved by parliament.

The presidential elections in the Czech Republic have taken a new twist: a group of musicians has begun an initiative to promote the internationally famous Czech pop singer Karel Gott for president. Their main intention is to highlight the farcical inability of Czech politicians to elect a new head of state.

Days after the United States made its case against Iraq to the United Nations security council the possibility of war in the Middle East shows no sign of abating. The information provided by the US however has done little to unite a divided world on what to do about Iraq. Coincidently, a number of discussions involving the question of war in Iraq and relations between the Middle East and Europe in general took place this week.

It's six days now since the Columbia disaster, a tragedy which has affected many people around the world. Among the mourners are the people of Israel, who had sent their first astronaut - Ilan Ramon - into space. Among the few possessions Ramon chose to take with him was a drawing entitled "Moon Landscape" - a view of the Earth as seen from the Moon. The picture was drawn by a 14-year-old Jewish boy from Prague called Petr Ginz, most probably during his imprisonment in the Terezin ghetto. One of Ginz's closest friends at Terezin was a boy called

The concept of a helpful police officer who is there to protect and inform rather than harass is fairly new to the Czech Republic. After the overthrow of communism 13 years ago there was a concerted effort to erase the memory of the dreaded communist police and create a police force that would be trusted and respected. The country's national police underwent a thorough overhaul and with the process of decentralization of power, cities, towns and villages across the country started financing their own local police departments. Now sadly, that process

The trial of a key figure from the Czechoslovak communist regime, Karel Hoffmann, has been taking place in Prague since January 15. Mr Hoffmann is accused of treason for ordering the interruption of Czechoslovak Radio broadcasts in August 1968, when Warsaw Pact troops invaded Czechoslovakia. But the trial was postponed indefinitely on Tuesday after Mr Hoffmann's defence lawyer accused the judge of bias.