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The former Czech health minister Marie Souckova has been charged with "breaching the public trust", and if found guilty could face up to eight years in prison. She is accused of having contracted a private lawyer to represent the state in an arbitration dispute on highly disadvantageous terms and without holding a public tender. Until just a few months ago, Ms Souckova was one of the most influential politicians in the country, but now she is increasingly isolated, and even former Social Democrat colleagues have failed to rally to her support.

For most people, a coffee grinder is a dull piece of kitchen equipment. Indeed, in this day and age of coffee granules, the household coffee grinder is fast becoming obsolete. Not so, however, for Brno artist Tomas Hruza, who has found quite another use for the domestic device...

Last weekend was the 36th anniversary of one of the most tragic events associated with the Soviet occupation of Czechoslovakia in 1968. On 16th January 1969, a twenty-year-old student Jan Palach doused himself with petrol and set himself alight on Prague's Wenceslas Square. It was a desperate protest against the invasion and growing public apathy in the face of the process known as "normalization", as the hardliners gradually regained control. Jan Palach died from his burns three days later, and around the world his sacrifice became one of the

Over the last few years reality shows throughout the world have enjoyed growing popularity among both radio and TV audiences, and the Czech Republic has not been immune. Following the Czech release of Pop Idol, broadcasters in this country, have been looking for new ways to attract audiences through the reality format. But none has gone as far as Cerna Hora - a commercial radio station in east Bohemia - that hit upon the idea to offer listeners a chance to win - not a new car or a paid vacation - but a trip to the plastic surgeon's.

Relations between the Czech Republic and Serbia-Montenegro have a long history. Both are Slav nations and their languages are similar. Their predecessors - Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia - were very close allies in the period between the two world wars, and something of the special relationship has survived even after the tragic events of the 1990s as Yugoslavia disintegrated. The Czech think tank, the Council for International Relations, has decided to take a closer look at Czech-Serb relations and organised a special debate on the subject.

The Czech Constitutional Court this week overturned a regional court's decision to return the historic Opocno Castle in eastern Bohemia to the aristocratic family that had owned it for centuries. The ruling could call into question the restitution of historic properties worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

Smoking kills five million people world-wide every year. By now more people have died from smoking related illnesses than the number of people killed in the First and Second World War combined. To quit smoking is traditionally the most common New Year's resolution world-wide but only a very small percentage manages to fight the addiction and not light up by the end of February. Smokers in the Czech Republic who are trying to quit can now get a helping hand on a new Quitline if they find themselves slipping back into the habit.

In the past, the Holesovice district near the centre of Prague was a busy industrial area, which was also home to the city's main harbour and docklands. Over the last few decades, however, Holesovice has experienced something of a decline. Many of the factories that were located here have closed down, and its once lively port area is now a sleepy backwater.

The name Herald TV comes from the newspaper Hlasatel, known in English as the Czechoslovak Daily Herald. The paper was founded 1891 and is apparently the oldest Czech daily in the world. John Honner worked at Hlasatel before launching Herald TV last year. On the line from Chicago he explains why.

The European Parliament on Wednesday overwhelmingly endorsed the European Union's first Constitution, which aims to streamline the way the EU works. Nearly all the mainstream parties in the 732 member Parliament supported the treaty, with 500 deputies in favour, 137 against and 40 abstaining from the vote. The European Constitution will only come into force if all 25 member states ratify it, and one of the countries where the ratification process is seen as potentially problematic is the Czech Republic. Although the coalition government is strongly