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Czech voters already know the ballot sheet numbers of the political parties and groupings they can choose from in the country's first ever elections to the European Parliament in June. The parties registered to take part in the election were given their numbers in a draw held by the State Electoral Commission on Tuesday. And many say they are planning to use them in the upcoming campaign.

The 68th Ice Hockey World Championship in Prague is well underway and Monday saw the Czechs in Game 2 action against Kazakhstan. They won easily - fans expected no less - and will now prepare to down Germany to secure top spot in their group.

Last month's terrorist bombings in Madrid meant that Friday's conference in the Czech senate on Democracy and Security was a timely one. The conference discussed the best ways for democratic governments to fight the threat of terrorism whilst maintaining civil liberties.

The retired former prime minister and former head of the Social Democrats, Milos Zeman, is once again in the centre of attention. The outspoken former party leader first came out of retirement early last year when he ran for president - and was defeated by rival Vaclav Klaus. After then disappearing from the political scene, Mr Zeman reappeared before the public last weekend and pulled no punches in criticising the current situation in the Social Democratic Party. Although he once again declined to comment on any specific plans for his future,

On Thursday the prime minister, Bertie Ahern, made a short visit to Prague, just a week before the Czech Republic and nine other countries join the European Union. Mr Ahern is also the current president of the European Council, and he addressed the thorny issue of a new constitution for the EU in a speech to the Czech Senate. He also found the time to talk to Radio Prague, about why he had come to the Czech capital, how Czechs could make the most of membership and how optimistic he was that agreement on a constitution could be reached before the

The Czech Republic has been gripped by ice hockey fever, with the sport's World Championships due to start in Prague and Ostrava on Saturday. On the eve of the competition, the biggest Czech hockey star of all time, Jaromir Jagr, talks about the Czech team's chance of success, the passion Czechs have for the sport and how his club team-mates from North America will enjoy visiting the Czech Republic with their national teams.

Homelessness was virtually unknown in this country under communism, although it existed in various covert forms. After 1989 big cities, especially the capital Prague, witnessed an influx of people from around the country who found themselves without a job and a permanent address. The cities were totally unprepared, but over the years, a number of institutions started offering short-term and long-term assistance to the homeless. To be able to offer more targeted services, the City of Prague, together with several NGOs, have carried out the first

Just a few days ago the Czech commission to UNESCO chaired by Senator Jaroslava Moserova issued an appeal to the Culture Ministry and Prague's Town Hall to do their utmost to preserve the character of Prague's historic city centre. The appeal came on the heels of several experts' assessments that if certain controversial projects were realised, it might lead to Prague's being struck off UNESCO's list of world heritage sites. The Czech capital has been included on the list since 1992 - is there any real weight to the threat it might be struck off

Every year, dozens of countries around the world mark Earth Day on April 22nd. Czechs joined the worldwide campaign for preserving the global environment in 1990. This year, the main focus is on a big clean-up.

Czech civil servants went on strike on Wednesday morning for just one hour. All-out strikes are almost unheard of in the Czech Republic, where dissatisfied workers sometimes go on "strike alert", basically a warning that they might think about striking if employers don't meet their demands. But why are Czech workers so reluctant to take stronger action? Commentator Vaclav Zak says it's largely because there is no tradition of striking in this country