Current Affairs | All stories

For almost three years Radio Prague has been following the adventures of a brave young Czech couple, Michal Jon and Lucie Kovarikova, who set off to conquer the world on their bicycles. We followed their travels around Asia, Australia and even the Antarctic. We last spoke to the couple after they finished the South American part of their tour and were resting in California before they rode north to Canada, Alaska and through the whole of Canada to New York City.

For most people, a coffee grinder is a dull piece of kitchen equipment. Indeed, in this day and age of coffee granules, the household coffee grinder is fast becoming obsolete. Not so, however, for Brno artist Tomas Hruza, who has found quite another use for the domestic device...

Among the better known destinations outside the capital Prague are Czech spa towns like Karlovy Vary and Marianske Lazne, also known as Carlsbad and Marienbad. For decades "taking the waters" on doctors orders, and paid for by the state, has been taken for granted in the Czech Republic. Now, though, spending time at the country's spas is becoming something of a luxury for Czechs, as the country's health care system is overhauled. To make up for the shortfall in patients, the spas have found the answer: more foreigners.

The former Czech health minister Marie Souckova has been charged with "breaching the public trust", and if found guilty could face up to eight years in prison. She is accused of having contracted a private lawyer to represent the state in an arbitration dispute on highly disadvantageous terms and without holding a public tender. Until just a few months ago, Ms Souckova was one of the most influential politicians in the country, but now she is increasingly isolated, and even former Social Democrat colleagues have failed to rally to her support.

Last weekend was the 36th anniversary of one of the most tragic events associated with the Soviet occupation of Czechoslovakia in 1968. On 16th January 1969, a twenty-year-old student Jan Palach doused himself with petrol and set himself alight on Prague's Wenceslas Square. It was a desperate protest against the invasion and growing public apathy in the face of the process known as "normalization", as the hardliners gradually regained control. Jan Palach died from his burns three days later, and around the world his sacrifice became one of the

Over the last few years reality shows throughout the world have enjoyed growing popularity among both radio and TV audiences, and the Czech Republic has not been immune. Following the Czech release of Pop Idol, broadcasters in this country, have been looking for new ways to attract audiences through the reality format. But none has gone as far as Cerna Hora - a commercial radio station in east Bohemia - that hit upon the idea to offer listeners a chance to win - not a new car or a paid vacation - but a trip to the plastic surgeon's.

Relations between the Czech Republic and Serbia-Montenegro have a long history. Both are Slav nations and their languages are similar. Their predecessors - Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia - were very close allies in the period between the two world wars, and something of the special relationship has survived even after the tragic events of the 1990s as Yugoslavia disintegrated. The Czech think tank, the Council for International Relations, has decided to take a closer look at Czech-Serb relations and organised a special debate on the subject.

In the past, the Holesovice district near the centre of Prague was a busy industrial area, which was also home to the city's main harbour and docklands. Over the last few decades, however, Holesovice has experienced something of a decline. Many of the factories that were located here have closed down, and its once lively port area is now a sleepy backwater.

The Czech Constitutional Court this week overturned a regional court's decision to return the historic Opocno Castle in eastern Bohemia to the aristocratic family that had owned it for centuries. The ruling could call into question the restitution of historic properties worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

Smoking kills five million people world-wide every year. By now more people have died from smoking related illnesses than the number of people killed in the First and Second World War combined. To quit smoking is traditionally the most common New Year's resolution world-wide but only a very small percentage manages to fight the addiction and not light up by the end of February. Smokers in the Czech Republic who are trying to quit can now get a helping hand on a new Quitline if they find themselves slipping back into the habit.