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The Labour and Social Affairs Ministry has launched a project aimed at attracting foreign workers to the Czech Republic on a permanent basis. Foreigners who wish to settle here with their families should - in theory - find it easier to do so. A country with an aging population and a declining birth rate needs new blood - and the government is taking steps to ease the way.

Alois Grebenicek, a former Communist secret police officer accused of torturing political prisoners in the 1950s, has died in hospital at the age of 81. His passing has closed the file on a highly publicized court case that dragged out for six long years but never really started.

Ask any Czech today who Viktor Kozeny is and the answer would probably not be suitable for children. There is no doubt that there is nothing many Czechs would like more than to see Mr Kozeny behind bars, forever. He has been accused of abusing the so-called coupon privatisation after the fall of Communism through which he absconded with billions of Czech crowns belonging to thousands of small shareholders. On Monday, the Czech police finally decided to take action, giving those affected fresh hope that the man responsible for their losses will

The recent shooting incident at the Czech military field hospital in Basra, Iraq, attracted media attention again to the Czech humanitarian mission in that particular country. But Czech humanitarian workers are also helping to restore civilian infrastructure in other areas of conflict around the world - places which over the past months have been somewhat overshadowed by the events in Iraq. Since November 2001, the People in Need Foundation (Clovek v tisni) has been running a humanitarian mission in Afghanistan. Pavla Horakova contacted the People

Some 80,000 Rolling Stones fans flocked to Prague on Sunday to see the legendary British rock group perform in the Czech capital and neither the tropical heat nor the rain that followed could keep them away. The Rolling Stones had already honoured their Czech fans with magnificent concerts three times since the fall of the Communist Regime in 1989. They chose to make Sunday a fourth appearance and front man Mick Jagger even decided to celebrate his sixtieth birthday in Prague.

As the capital city of a European Union candidate country, Prague decided to open its own office in Brussels last June to promote itself as a city of culture and business opportunities. However the Prague House, as the representative office is called, has proved to be a serious disappointment.

With summer in full swing in Prague crowds have been lining up for tickets to one of the city's most exciting summer festivals - performances of Shakespeare's plays at Prague Castle. This year performances include both Hamlet as well as King Lear - last season's critically-acclaimed production starring Czech-born actor Jan Triska. Radio Prague's Jan Velinger attended the performance of Lear this week, and as you will find out, there was good reason to be impressed.

What could also happen is that instead of being let go, police officers will be assigned to work in different regions, depending on the required number of officers in the region. It may for instance happen that provincial overstaffed forces will have to send part of their staff to Prague, where many posts are still available.

The strongest opposition party in Parliament, the centre right Civic Democrats have declared their intention to try to bring down the three-party coalition government and trigger early elections. The public announcement made by the party's leader Miroslav Topolanek, comes in the wake of a fresh blow for the governing coalition: one of its deputies broke ranks on Tuesday, seriously endangering the government's razor thin majority in the Lower House.

Former Czech president Vaclav Havel has travelled to the United States to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom from U.S. President George W. Bush. Mr Havel is the first Czech ever to receive the medal, which is the highest civilian award in the United States, and recognizes exceptional meritorious service.