Current Affairs | All stories

Three Czech restorers for a well-known Czech restoration company have begun cooperating with the US organisation Save Our Cemeteries to assess overall damages from last year's Hurricane Katrina to one of New Orleans' oldest and most significant cemeteries. So far, funding for the project has been handled privately but the company - known as the Gema Art Group - will be looking for additional funding once full damages are assessed.

Floods threatened homes throughout the Czech Republic during much of March and April. Now the water is subsiding, but authorities are concerned about another possible threat - mosquitoes. The annoying little insects aren't just a nuisance; they can also spread serious diseases. The government took action against possible outbreak this week, before the mosquitoes go airborne.

Could the number of Roma ghettos in the Czech Republic be much higher than official government estimates? That is the preliminary result of a new study, commissioned by the Labour and Social Affairs Ministry. It suggests there are over 300 Romany ghettos - including districts, streets and even individual apartment buildings. That contrasts greatly with the findings of the government's Council for Roma Affairs: it says there are at most only a few dozen ghettos.

A TV advertisement for mobile phone operator Vodafone has once again raised the issue of ethics in Czech advertising, in particular the manner in which women are portrayed.

This year's general elections are just over six weeks away. Preparations are underway around the country but also abroad, at the Czech Republic's embassies and consulates. This year's elections are only the second time Czechs living abroad will have had the opportunity to cast their votes. But time is running out - the deadline for registration is the end of this week.

Clean up or pay up - that was the stark message of Environment Minister Libor Ambrozek to the German state of Saxony-Anhalt on Monday, the latest round in a dispute over German rubbish dumped illegally in the Czech Republic. The comments came amid reports that the illegal dump - in disused farm buildings in the North Bohemian village of Libceves - was again on fire.

The former Czech diplomat and Communist dissident, Rudolf Slansky junior, passed away on Monday after a serious illness. He was 71. As the son of the famous Czechoslovak Communist Party General Secretary who was executed after a show trial in 1952, Rudolf Slansky junior's participation in the dissident movement after 1968 and his subsequent work in the diplomatic service earned him the respect of many senior figures in Czech politics. Chris Jarrett looks back on this prominent political career.

We often speak about the cut and thrust of politics, of politicians battling it out and crossing swords, but on Thursday Prime Minister Jiri Paroubek literally threw down the gauntlet to his Civic Democrat rival Mirek Topolanek. Mr Paroubek chose a rather flamboyant gesture to challenge his rival to a series of TV debates.

Many are familiar with the work of one of the greatest Czech composers, Bohuslav Martinu. Martinu wrote a number of operas in a career that spanned more than half a century. But he wrote only one tragic opera, "The Greek Passion." A new translation of "The Greek Passion" premiered at Prague's historic National Theatre on Thursday night, just in time for Easter.

Lety in south Bohemia is once again in the news - after previously promising to buy a pig farm on the site of a concentration camp where over 300 Romanies died during the war, Prime Minister Jiri Paroubek said this week it will be a task for the next government. But why this change of policy?