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Czech mezzo-soprano Magdalena Kozena was named Artist of the Year at the prestigious Gramophone Awards last Friday. The Artist of the Year award is the third Gramophone Award in her collection; in 2001, she was the first Czech solo performer to be honoured for her rendition of love songs by the famous Czech composers Antonin Dvorak, Leos Janacek and Bohuslav Martinu and last year, it was her CD of French Arias that won her the Record of the Month award.

Former Czech President Vaclav Havel and 100 international figures sent an open letter to the heads of all European Union and NATO states this week criticizing President Vladimir Putin for allegedly using the Beslan school tragedy to "further undermine" democracy in Russia. The current Czech President, Vaclav Klaus, has taken a very different stance and in fact came to his Russian counterpart's defense, saying there is no proof that Mr Putin is jailing his political opponents or systematically suppressing freedoms.

This week the Czech Republic's highly successful Paralympic athletes came home from Athens, with 16 gold medals, 8 silver and seven bronze. One of this country's best all-time Paralympic athletes is Pavla Francova, a former cross-country skier and middle-distance runner. She became blind at the age of fifteen and now at 32, Pavla is an artist, illustrating stories written by disabled people. She doesn't regret giving up her blossoming career in sport.

What is being described as the biggest political scandal in years escalated dramatically on Thursday, when police arrested two men connected with the leader of the opposition Civic Democrats. The men have been charged with bribing a coalition MP to bring down the government.

Czech Deputy Foreign Minister Petr Kolar addressed a group of American students in Prague on Thursday on the issue of the European Union's relationship with the United States and on the Czech Republic's dealings with both entities. One of the topics that provoked much discussion was the so-called rift between some countries in the EU and the United States, particularly in relation to the US-led military action in Iraq.

Zdenek Sverak, who is 68, would make many people's list of greatest living Czechs. An actor, co-creator of the much-loved Jara Cimrman theatre and writer of some of the country's most popular comic films, he is also a writer of children's songs, a great champion of the Czech language and a former Czech Radio broadcaster. His greatest international success was the 1996 Oscar-winning film Kolya, which he wrote and starred in. Zdenek Sverak is now the subject of a documentary called Tatinek (Dad) by his son Jan, the director of Kolya. He says that

The Czech Central State Archives are having their fiftieth birthday. And to celebrate, archivists and historians from around the world are participating in a three-day conference that began Wednesday in Prague. Archivist Amy Schmidt was the lone American presenter among the estimated 250 participants.

On a state visit to Spain this week Czech President Vaclav Klaus made his opposition to the European integration process a pivotal issue, saying that he hoped "a united Europe would never come to fruition" and telling his hosts that "good fences make good neighbours".

Belarus gained independence in 1991 after being part of the Soviet Union for some seventy years. In two years time, the second term of the country's authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko will come to an end. But Lukashenko, who is widely accused of human rights abuses and has also clamped down on the use of the Belarusian language in favour of Russian, now hopes to have the constitution revised by national referendum to give him a third term as head of state. There is a growing diaspora in Europe of Belarusians opposed to the regime, who

The Paralympic Games, the premier sporting event for elite disabled athletes, came to a close on Tuesday at the Olympic Stadium in Athens. Brian Kenety joins me in the studio now with the details.