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It may seem hard to believe but it is fifteen years since the world witnessed the dramatic days of social upheaval and protest that eventually led to the fall of Communism in Europe. At the time reform movements in the Soviet satellites were given a new impetus by the Soviet Union's last leader Mikhail Gorbachev who announced "Life punishes those who come too late". The scenes in Berlin in November 1989 are vividly remembered, but we sometimes forget one of the last episodes just before those heady days - in the autumn of that same year thousands

This year's U.S. presidential elections have attracted attention world-wide, but there's one place in the Czech Republic where the contest carries special resonance: Horni Benesov, a village in northern Moravia, that was once home to Democrat challenger John F. Kerry's grandfather, Fritz Kohn, who emigrated to the U.S. in 1905.

Imagine the frustration Czech domestic violence victims must feel if what advocates say is true. They may endure abuse for years because they can't expect help from police until it's too late. That's because Czech police can only intervene in severe cases. But this is an obstacle that a victims' help group and high profile politicians hope to remove with a proposed law.

During his first official visit to the European Union institutions and NATO headquarters in Brussels, the Czech Prime Minister Stanislav Gross on Tuesday backed Turkey's EU membership bid, pledged to boost the Czech Republic's defense budget to honor its NATO commitments, and rejected calls for EU-wide tax harmonization. Analysts say the former Czech interior minister, whose critics at home often portray him as weak on foreign policy, avoided speaking to controversial issues but nonetheless made a strong impression.

Marie Bohata is the exception to the rule. In a country where women rarely hold high posts, she has reached for one of the top jobs in the European Commission - and landed it. She is to be the new deputy director of Eurostat - one of just eight top posts being offered to candidates from the 10 newcomer states. Here's what she had to say about the job interview that will take her to Luxembourg - the headquarters of Eurostat.

It is a special time of year in many regions of the Czech Republic when the nights get cooler and the days shorter. It is the time of "vinobrani", wine festivals which mark the harvest of grapes for wine making. Legend has it that these celebrations date back to Roman times, when the first grapes were planted.

And the winner is: "Harry Potter," and not by a nose. In a nationwide survey of nearly 100,000 people, Czech readers have named the English author J.K. Rowling as having penned their favorite book.

"I am convinced that if we want to save this aspect of European culture, we must change it. If we want to preserve our social security systems, which we have built up over the years, we must adapt to the new economic conditions." Those were the words of the German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder in Prague on Monday. Europe-wide social policy reform was the focus of his visit to the Czech capital.

On Sunday Pope John Paul II declared five Roman Catholics blessed, adding them to a list of some 1,340 people he has so far put on the road to sainthood. Pope John Paul II has declared more people blessed than all his predecessors combined and in a number of cases his choice has raised controversy. One such figure is also the newly beatified Emperor Karl I, the last monarch to rule in what is now the Czech Republic.

Czech mezzo-soprano Magdalena Kozena was named Artist of the Year at the prestigious Gramophone Awards last Friday. The Artist of the Year award is the third Gramophone Award in her collection; in 2001, she was the first Czech solo performer to be honoured for her rendition of love songs by the famous Czech composers Antonin Dvorak, Leos Janacek and Bohuslav Martinu and last year, it was her CD of French Arias that won her the Record of the Month award.