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On Friday the National Theatre in Prague hosted the premiere of a new production of probably the best known Czech opera, The Bartered Bride by Bedrich Smetana. But what was meant to be a prestigious staging met with disapproval on the part of the audience and the actors were even booed at one point.

The playwright and former president and dissident Vaclav Havel is to have his own library. On Friday the project was presented to the press, and its director Vaclav Bartuska said it was in the American tradition of libraries devoted to the work of former US presidents. Given Vaclav Havel's key role both as a dissident and then as the longest-serving head-of-state in the years after the fall of communism, the library promises to be a mine of information. David Vaughan reports.

As the fifteenth anniversary of the Velvet Revolution fast approaches, many people in the Czech Republic have been taking stock of the vast changes since then. Take the nation's health: Czechs aren't growing any taller but men seem to be putting on weight. More diseases are being diagnosed but are also being treated more efficiently. That's what statistical data tell us about Czech population 15 years after the fall of communism.

The National Library in Prague is currently exhibiting a fascinating and rare collection of Hebrew manuscripts, part of a larger collection the Nazis stole from a Jewish Seminary in the Polish city of Wroclaw in 1938. Now, under an international agreement, it is about to be returned to Poland.

Almost exactly six months ago, the Czech Republic and seven other former Communist countries joined the European Union. With Romania and Bulgaria also knocking on the doors of the EU, further east electoral controversies have emerged in Belarus and Ukraine. As the Czech Republic and other countries go west, many say a gap has emerged between former eastern bloc allies and the EU, and some are asking how the gap can be bridged.

The African community in the Czech Republic today amounts to about 3,000 people. It has been shrinking since the fall of the communist regime when many scholarships were offered to students from African countries. Even today the community consists mainly of former students who have settled down here. Now the Czech Republic's joining the EU has brought new changes and not just for the better, according to Kofi A Nkrumah from the organisation Humanitas Afrika in Prague. He spoke to Jarka Halkova, at an forum in Prague in celebration of the Czech

A new art exhibit opened at the Skolska Communication Space in Prague last week. The subject of the artist's work holds a special place in Czech hearts. Kate Barrette finds out more about the exhibit called Houbicky, or "Little Mushrooms".

Yasser Arafat was for some the symbol of Palestinian nationalism, for others a terrorist. If one thing is certain, it's that his death heralds an unclear future for the peace process in the Middle East, with all sides asking who will fill Arafat's shoes.

Czech politicians have been competing for attention in an exchange of bitter insults. But should they be trying harder to mind their language? Kate Barrette has more on this dip into dirty words among Czech politicians.

Twenty years ago Jiri Brokes completed his compulsory military service in the Czechoslovak army. Now Jaroslava Brokesova is trying in vain to join the armed forces. What's the connection? Well, Jaroslava and Jiri are one and the same person. Last year Jiri Brokes, father of two teenage children, underwent a sex change. He recently received documents confirming that he is now officially a woman. But that's not enough for the Czech army, who say that they do not want him and are not even allowed to take on transsexuals. David Vaughan reports.