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It was a little bit as if time had stood still. With its 1970s fittings and overall atmosphere, Prague's high-rise Hotel Olympik still has a flavour of the old regime, and it seemed rather an apt venue for a gathering of communist and hard-left parties from around the world. Under a banner pointing to a socialist future in large red letters, several dozen delegates from 32 different countries - mostly in Europe, but also including China, Vietnam and North Korea - came together to discuss the future of socialism in Europe.

Two new anthologies of Czech short stories were released on Wednesday in Prague's, 'Palace Luxor' bookshop. Fittingly for somewhere calling itself the capital's 'Palace of Books', the 'Palace Luxor' played host to the Kings, Queens and Princesses of Czech literature, who had all collaborated on the project. Rosie Johnston was at the event:

The Czech President Vaclav Klaus has found himself embroiled in a huge row with leading members of the European Parliament. Earlier this week two Euro-MPs, including the parliament's deputy president, Alejo Vidal-Quadras, accused Mr Klaus of using unfair means and lies to deceive the Czech public into rejecting the planned European constitution. They warned that he was leading the country into isolation, and they argue that he is the only anti-constitution head of state in the whole union. The Czech President himself has reacted with fury. David

A number of political scientists, sociologists, historians and other academics gathered earlier this week at an international conference in Prague to discuss what democracy means in Europe. The conference was organized by the French Social Science Research Centre and tried to tackle questions like: how important is it to vote? What forms of political representation are most democratic? One of the most interesting parts of the discussion was on the role played by former dissidents in the current political life of those EU member countries that were

Exports from the Czech Republic grew at a rate above analysts' expectations in 2004. In fact, a new study carried out for the OECD shows the growth in Czech exports was the third fastest in the world last year, behind only China and South Korea. Other new European Union states also showed strong export growth rates, but none matched the success of the Czech Republic in this area. I spoke to Petr Sklenar, an analyst with Atlantik Financial Markets, and began by asking him what was behind this positive trend.

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

The three parties in the feuding Czech coalition have raised hopes that they will re-unite and form a new government under a different PM. After months of bickering, triggered by a scandal involving PM Stanislav Gross' private finances, the Social Democrats, the Christian Democrats and the Freedom Union appear to have found an acceptable way of easing the embattled PM out of office and getting back to work with pretty much the same team of ministers as before.

Architect Jan Hird Pokorny is a legend of the Czech émigré community in New York City, where he has been living and working since 1940. A former professor of architecture and preservation studies at Columbia University, he was instrumental in saving countless historic buildings in his adoptive homeland from destruction: among them, the Bohemia National Hall, once the centre of New York's thriving, Czech émigré community. This Tuesday, Prof. Pokorny--at 90 years old still considered a modern architect--was awarded the honorary title of doctor honoris

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.