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The Czech Philharmonic Orchestra has been nominated for a grammy award for its recording of Bohuslav Martinu's Symphonies 3 and 4, with world reknown Czech conductor Jiri Belohlavek.

Five soldiers were killed and six were injured when an express train ploughed into their military vehicle at a rail crossing in the eastern part of the country on Thursday. This tragedy has highlighted the extremely high number of accidents that happen at Czech rail crossings every year.

During the four decades Czechoslovakia was behind the Iron Curtain, hundreds if not thousands of people tried to make their way to freedom across the country's heavily guarded borders. Many died in the process, with 282 definite cases and up to 40 more probable killings. Of the certified cases, 145 people were shot trying to cross the border, and almost 100 were electrocuted, with the others dying in a variety of ways, such as drowning. Those figures come from a report out this week by Martin Pulec from the Office for the Documentation and Investigation

Christmas is fast approaching and the advent mood can be felt all around. One of the important features of this time of the year are the Christmas markets, offering traditional Czech Christmas goods and treats. The colourful markets are always a big attraction for both locals and tourists.

The leading Czech football club Sparta Prague played their last group game in the prestigious Champions League on Wednesday night. With only one point from their previous five games, Sparta had already finished last in Group D, and were essentially playing for pride when they faced France's Olympique Lyon. But far from making the most of their last chance this season to shine on the European stage, Sparta suffered a humiliating 5:0 defeat. It was the culmination of their worst ever Champions League campaign.

Lord Robertson of Port Ellen, whom many of you will remember as the NATO Secretary General when the NATO summit was held in Prague in 2002, was back in the Czech capital this week to collect a special citizenship award. The award, which seeks to honour those whose work has helped break down national and cultural barriers, was presented by the Prague Society for International Cooperation. Previous winners include Madeleine Albright and Vaclav Havel.

Artists, art historians and art lovers fill a cozy, attic meeting room on the top floor of the Kampa Museum of Modern Art. They are looking at slides of abstract Polish prints from the 1960s. Later they will watch experimental Hungarian films from the Bela Balazs studio in Budapest. They came here on Wednesday night - to begin a long overdue conversation.

Some time ago 250 thousand students from 41 countries around the world were given identical exam papers - nothing unusual in that - except that in this case the idea was to grade education systems rather than individuals. The results of this OECD study came out this week and gave the Czech education authorities plenty of food for thought. Daniela Lazarova has been following the story. So, Daniela how did Czech kids do?

Czech music fans and musicians were deeply saddened on Tuesday by the news that the singer-songwriter Zuzana Navarova has died of cancer at the age of just 45. Her death came as a shock to many: she appeared in concert only last month, and received a gold record for 10,000 sales of her 2001 CD Barvy vsecky.

While most Czechs know the devastating power of locusts only from biblical plagues, a group of pilots from East Bohemia have had first hand experience with the crop-devouring insects. In the spring of this year they had a chance to use their aerial spraying expertise in Algeria. Now the crews are ready for take-off again as the voracious insects once more hit parts of North and West Africa.