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The three Lord of the Rings movies are among the most successful films of all time. The brilliantly-made epics have made huge stars of several of the actors involved, none more so than Elijah Wood, who plays the central character Frodo Baggins. The 23-year-old is undoubtedly the biggest celebrity to appear at this year's Karlovy Vary film festival, where sightings of the Lord of the Rings star caused great excitement, and his every move was accompanied by high security.

A seminar was held this week in Prague's Centre for Preventive Cardiology, on the effects of tobacco smoking, organised by the Czech Coalition against Tobacco. Delegates at the conference came out with some alarming statistics. For example, 50 people die per day in the Czech Republic from the effects of smoking. A regular smoker shortens his life by 15 years and about a third of the population of the Czech Republic still smokes. I asked Dr Michal Vrablik what are the greatest dangers:

One of this year's special guests at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival is Albert Maysles, a legend in the world of documentary film making. As well as capturing the lives of 'ordinary' people, he has - at very close quarters - caught the likes of John F Kennedy, Fidel Castro, the Beatles and Muhammad Ali with his handheld camera. Mr Maysles, who is now 77, said it was gratifying that his work - some of it from the early 1960s - was still finding an appreciative audience today.

One of the Czech legends of the Battle of Britain, Josef Balejka died on Wednesday at the age of 87. As a pilot he served throughout the war, after an extraordinary escape to England. David Vaughan looks back at the life of an exceptional man who knew both adventure and tragedy.

They say that dogs take on the qualities of their owners and vice-versa, and some might say that the following two breeds conform to stereotype. The German "Drahthund" - the wire haired pointing dog - is a dog that loves the hunt, enthusiastically chasing its prey through the forest; its close Czech relative - the Bohemian wire-haired pointing dog, or "Cesky fousek", is a much quieter, more restrained breed, and favours caution before diving into the woods. The fousek is also one of Europe's oldest breeds, in all probability going back to the Middle

The last few hours have brought a surprising shift in the talks on forming a new Czech government. Marian Bielesz, one of the two Freedom Union deputies who recently broke party ranks, has given up his mandate in the Lower House. This move will enable the designated Prime Minister Stanislav Gross to gain a slim 101 majority in Parliament - enough for the approval of an old-new coalition government. Daniela Lazarova has been following the story and joins me now in the studio. So, Daniela how will this news affect the talks?

Although Stanislav Gross has said he would prefer to form a government made up of the current coalition partners - his centre-left Social Democratic Party, plus the right-of-centre Freedom Union and Christian Democrats — he is at best one vote short of a majority in the 200-seat chamber of deputies and so will need to reach out to the opposition. So will he go left or right?

In the days of communism the Czechoslovak Society of Arts and Sciences, the SVU, was one of the most important emigre organizations and one that was despised by the regime. It was founded by exiles in 1958 to provide a forum for the free development of Czech and Slovak culture abroad, away from the stifling restrictions back home. It also struggled to prevent Czechoslovakia from fading from international awareness in the shadow of the Iron Curtain. Today the Society is still going strong and Radio Prague's director, Miroslav Krupicka, has just returned

The 39th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival is currently underway, with dozens of well-known actors and directors, hundreds of films and thousands of enthusiastic film fans making the festival one of the most colourful events in the Czech Republic.

Radio Prague presents special programming on Monday, July 5th, and Tuesday July 6th. Together with Radio Netherlands we look at the extraordinary life of 17th century Czech thinker Jan Amos Comenius, in two documentaries titled "The Teacher of Nations" and "A Bohemian in Amsterdam". Two perspectives forming a full hour of programming, you won't want to miss. Listen to the teaser now!