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Since the New Year began, Czechs have been marking the 30th anniversary of Charter 77, the dissident movement that sought to bring respect for human rights to Communist Czechoslovakia. Since that time, the Czech Republic has enjoyed well over a decade of freedom and democracy, but a new citizens' group says there is still work to be done in the realm of human rights.

Over 30 church schools in Prague closed for the day on Friday after getting an anonymous bomb threat. Police and bomb disposal experts have been scouring the schools and premises and an intensive search is on for the culprit. It is the biggest security operation in the Czech capital since last September when there were fears of a possible terrorist attack against Jewish targets.

What do James Bond and the Czech hobby of mushroom picking have in common? I won't keep you guessing - it is a knife - more precisely knives produced by the Czech company Mikov. Their products are good enough for 007 as well as the peaceful Czech family hobby of mushroom picking.

The Villa Tugendhat in Brno is the Czech Republic's only UNESCO site built in the 20th century. Considered a masterpiece of Modernism, the opulent family home was completed in 1930. In December, members of the Tugendhat family submitted a petition to have the house returned to their possession. But the city of Brno, the villa's current legal owner, doesn't want to give it back.

Jirina Zizkovska LaVine recently received the Czernin Palace Memorial Bronze Medal. Every year the Czech ambassador to the United States confers the prize on an individual or body that has made significant contributions to fostering Czech-US relations. Mrs Lavine, who is 82, was actually presented with the award by the Czech consul in Kansas City, where she has lived since leaving Czechoslovakia over five decades ago. On the phone from there, she told me a little about how she began promoting Czech culture in local schools.

After seven months of long-drawn-out debates on forming a government, Czech politicians came up with a new stunt to revive the public's interest in the deadlocked political scene. On Wednesday, TV crews were invited to a debate between representatives of the three-party coalition in the new government and the Social Democrats about support for the government in an upcoming confidence vote.

Prague's Slovansky Dum multiplex cinema was packed out on Wednesday evening for the gala premiere of Jiri Menzel's eagerly awaited I Served the King of England. The film tells the story of Jan Dite, a diminutive, quick-witted and ambitious waiter, whose fortunes echo those of Czechoslovakia in the turbulent and often tragic 20th century.

According to the European Union's Statistical Office Eurostat Czechs are at the top end of the European divorce ladder - second only to Belgians and Estonians. At the same time a change of lifestyle after 1989 has resulted in fewer young people tying the knot. So - with the number of divorces on the rise and the number of marriages on the decline - does the institution of marriage have a future in this country?

January marks two important anniversaries. It's 30 years since the release of the Charter 77 human rights declaration, and also the 30th anniversary of the so-called "anti-Charter"- the response of the communist regime. Thousands of artists, musicians and writers signed a petition dismissing the Charter 77 signatories as "drop-outs" and "traitors". So many signed - so how do they feel thirty years on?

Many Czechs catch their television news in the early evening, between 7 and 8 o'clock. But which particular news programmes they choose to watch has changed somewhat since the New Year, when Czech Television brought its main evening news forward by 15 minutes. The change also affects hundreds of thousands of Czech children, as a popular animated programme also starts earlier.