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At the end of World War II most of Czechoslovakia was liberated from the east by the Red Army, but until the fall of communism, the fact that it was the Americans who liberated the far west of the country was largely ignored. It was sixty years ago this week - on the 18th April 1945 - that General George Patton's 3rd Army entered Czechoslovakia, liberating Western Bohemia from six years of Nazi-German occupation. The largest Czech city they freed was Plzen - about 80 kilometres south-west of Prague - and this year the city is to mark the 60th anniversary

A new poll released by the Stem agency has shown voter support for the ruling Social Democratic Party has dropped to its lowest since 1992. The party with the most seats in parliament now barely registers 12 percent, a significant change in mood from just three years ago.

The city of Plzen is renowned for its world famous beer, Pilsner Urquell. But the Czech city also has a cultural side. In a matter of days, film directors, actors and critics will flock to the city for its annual film festival - Finale Plzen. The festival has a long history dating back to 1968, when it was banned by the Communist regime. But it's been running steadily since 1989 and is in its 18th season. Kate Barrette met up with festival organizers at their headquarters in Plzen.

The great Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti has sold over 100 million albums in a career spanning four decades. Czech music lovers will have a final chance to see him on Wednesday night, when he appears in Prague as part of his 40-date world Farewell Tour. Before he arrived in the Czech capital, Luciano Pavarotti explained why he thought audiences loved him so much.

Throughout the spring Radio Prague has been running its series on Czechs in Toronto - a look at the lives of Czechs who fled Communist Czechoslovakia to Canada. It turns out that students at a high school in the North Bohemian town of Liberec have been up to something similar. Under the guidance of their history teacher, they headed for Toronto last summer, putting together a study as well a short film on émigrés'. What they recorded were some moving testimonies indeed.

Memorial ceremonies were held over the weekend at the Nazi concentration camps of Bergen-Belsen, Sachsenhausen and Ravensbrueck, to mark the sixtieth anniversary of their liberation. The names of these and other camps where millions were murdered have become embedded in our memory. But there were also smaller camps, scattered throughout German occupied Europe, places of terror that have been all but forgotten. The Jewish Museum in Prague has just opened a moving exhibition following the fate of Czech Jews, who in 1942 were transported to camps in

People from all over the country descended on Prague at the weekend for the Czech Republic's national arm wrestling championship. Organised arm wrestling competitions have been on the rise here and the sport is attracting a growing number of Czech arm-wrestling enthusiasts. There were well over a hundred people at the Prague event and competitors came from all over the country for a shot at one of the national titles up for grabs in various weight categories.

An agreement between the ruling coalition parties on forming a new government collapsed only hours after being clinched on Thursday, dashing hopes of ending the protracted political crisis in the Czech Republic. The leadership of the strongest coalition party, the Social Democrats, unexpectedly rejected the deal made by their own top bosses. This setback has brought negotiations back to square one, and further undermined the position of the Gross government.

'Roman pro zeny' translates as 'A novel for women', but is actually confusingly a film released this Thursday. Its name derives from the best-selling book upon which the film is based. In both - the story of a young journalist Laura, her translator mother Jana and her Julia Roberts look-alike best friend, Ingrid - are told. Radio Prague saw it fit to send along a woman who likes novels to interview the film's director, Filip Renc. Rosie Johnston started by asking him how it was to make the film:

The European Union is set to go through with its second wave of expansion in less than two years after the European Parliament on Wednesday voted to pave the way for Bulgaria and Romania to join the EU as early as January 1, 2007.