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A small Nepalese community living in Prague hosted an event last Thursday. Czech guests savored the spices of Nepalese food and enjoyed the spectacle and vibrant colours of Nepalese Dance. This informative gathering was intended as a starting point for a possible Czech - Nepalese friendship organization.

Most democratic systems of government have checks and balances in place to ensure that public officials avoid any conflict of interest while fulfilling their duties. After all, if the lawmakers don't obey the law, then who does? One precautionary measure is that government representatives are obliged to declare their income and property interests on a regular basis. This is common practice in many democratic countries and the Czech Republic is no different. This week, however, a group of senators led by Martin Mejstrik published a list of public

People in the Czech Republic love to walk. Anywhere and anytime. Hiking and walking has a very long tradition. The nationwide organization of walkers decided more than a hundred years ago to create a system of marked trails, which now cover the whole of the Czech Republic.

Throughout its history the Czech Republic has been renowned for having an outstanding level of education. This small country in the heart of Europe has produced many great intellectuals, writers, scientists and creative engineers. Even so, the famous Czech author Ivan Klima noted in his novel "the Spirit of Prague" that nowhere in the world where the literacy rate is almost 100% is education so underrated. But with today's financial realities, do Czechs have more reason to look at their university education with such disdain?

Prior the fall of communism the border separating socialist Czechoslovakia from the capitalist West was notoriously well-guarded, creating a virtual no-man's land. Few were able to cross or even to enter. Paradoxically, the strict precautions ended up having an unexpectedly positive effect: nature in this area remained practically untouched to this day, a true rarity in the centre of Europe. To ensure the area's continued preservation, leading environmental organisations launched a project aimed at protecting the border region. The groups hope

Towns and cities around the country have been dreading the process of transforming the Czech Army. They expect major losses as dozens of army bases are to be abandoned and hundreds of civilian employees will be laid off. But one town in Moravia has something to look forward to. On Monday, the Army began restructuring its command centres and moved the Czech Armed Forces' Operational Headquarters and some 450 new inhabitants to the town of Olomouc.

Every year the Czech government looses approximately 3 billion crowns through the sale of unlicensed cigarettes and alcohol. Most of it is sold at outdoor stalls, predominantly by Vietnamese market traders. Despite the fact that the cartons of cigarettes are obviously counterfeit, and there have even been cases of buyers coming home to find their cartons stuffed with cotton wool and nails -the lower price of smuggled cigarettes continues to ensure steady sales. Inspections and police raids have proved ineffective in the long run -since no matter

At Monday's meeting of NATO defence ministers in Brussels, the Czech Republic offered to send a special unit to Afghanistan to join the International Security Assistance Force and the US-led operation Enduring Freedom. The offer is expected to be approved by the cabinet by the end of the year, to be then submitted to both houses of parliament in January.

The Czech Republic faces a deep crisis of its pension system caused by changes in the structure of the population. Parliament recently approved increasing the retirement age to 63 years. However, experts believe this will not solve the problem.

Viktor Kozeny is wanted in connection with the biggest scandal of the Czech Republic's privatisation process of the 1990s, having allegedly cheated small investors out of billions of crowns. Six weeks ago a Czech court issued an international warrant for his arrest. Now, bizarrely, Mr Kozeny - who lives in the Bahamas - says he is planning to run in the first Czech elections to the European Parliament, which are taking place next June. He explained his plans in an interview this week: