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Former Czech president Vaclav Havel is well-known as a champion of human rights, but he hasn't been resting on his laurels since stepping down as president in January. From Wednesday to Friday this week, Mr Havel's Office and the Forum 2000 Foundation are holding a conference at Prague's Municipal House entitled "Bridging Global Gaps". Forum 2000 Foundation's Oldrich Cerny told Dita Asiedu more about the aim of this week's conference:

The three-word title "the Czech Republic" is an unusually long name for a country, and can prove a bit of a mouthful. There is an alternative, "Czechia". But how do people feel about this shorter, snappier name? And will it ever really catch on?

Karel Hoffmann, a key figure in Czechoslovakia's communist regime who appealed against a four-year jail term for his role in the 1968 Soviet invasion, has lost his appeal. The High Court in Prague raised his prison sentence to six years and changed the offence from abuse of power to sabotage. In the early hours of August 21, 1968, when Warsaw Pact troops invaded Czechoslovakia, Mr Hoffmann - head of telecommunications at that time - ordered Czechoslovak Radio broadcasts off the air in an attempt to keep the public in the dark about the

A Czech and Slovak Community Trade and Culture Fest was held for the first time in New York City from October 11-13. Its main aim was to bring some twenty Czech and Slovak manufacturers, producers, and artists closer to the communities of Czechs and Slovaks living in the United States. Radio Prague's General Director Miroslav Krupicka was at the event representing Czech Radio. Dita Asiedu spoke to him earlier and asked him whether he thought the companies present gave a good picture of the Czech Republic:

On October 4, an inter-governmental conference which brings together representatives from all fifteen current European Union countries and the ten accession countries was opened in Rome to finalise the EU's draft constitution. One week later, last Friday, parliamentary representatives of four of the countries due to join the EU in May next year, met in Prague to discuss their reservations on the proposed constitution treaty.

In Victor Hugo's Les Miserables, a tragic character "Fantine" is mired so deeply in poverty that she is forced to work as a prostitute, making "Fantine" a perhaps appropriate title for this past weekend's police raids on over 435 brothels across the Czech Republic. Interior Minister Stanislav Gross ordered the raids in response to growing criticism, both at home and abroad, that police were doing little to contain the illegal sex trade and in particular with child prostitution.

On Sunday, the same day the world mourned the passing of 72-year-old legendary jockey and four-time Kentucky Derby winner Bill Shoemaker, the Czech Republic witnessed its 113th running of the Velka Pardubicka - the country's most famous, most gruelling, and most prestigious cross-country steeplechase.

On Thursday 10 people died in Baghdad when a suicide bomber blew himself up at a police station. Later that day two American soldiers were shot dead in the Iraqi capital. At the moment 20 Czech officials are in Baghdad, contributing their expertise to the effort to reconstruct a country devastated by war. One of the Czech officials, Martin Dvorak, has just made a brief visit to the Czech Republic. In the light of the frequent killings in Baghdad, I asked Mr Dvorak how safe he felt there.

Many Czechs who emigrated in the second half of the 20th century, never dreamed that their homeland would see the end of communism, let alone have the opportunity to get their stolen property back. Though it's been 14 years since the Velvet Revolution, emotions over past property and belongings are still vivacious. This was apparent at the Conference for Czechs Living Abroad, in which thirty-two countries were represented by individuals, their lawyers, and representatives from various independent Czech and Slovak associations. The issue of property

It's less than 24 hours to go before a much-anticipated announcement from the Norwegian capital Oslo: the winner of this year's Nobel Peace Prize. There are a record 165 nominees this year, and among the favourites are Pope John Paul, the Brazilian President Lula da Silva and the former Czech President Vaclav Havel. Many believe the ailing Pope is virtually guaranteed to win, but not Stein Tonnesson, director of the Oslo-based International Peace Research Institute or PRIO. He's backing Mr Havel. So what does he know that we don't?