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Relations between the Czech Republic and Cuba have long been cool, but the thermometer dropped a few more degrees on Friday, following an incident in the Cuban capital. Czech diplomats had been planning to celebrate Czechoslovak independence day at a Havana hotel, but the reception was banned at the last minute by the Cuban authorities.

The Indian writer Nirmal Verma, who died in New Delhi on Tuesday at the age of 75, was considered one of India's best fiction writers but he was also a translator from Czech into Hindi. He introduced such writers as Karel Capek, Josef Skvorecky, Milan Kundera and Bohumil Hrabal to Indian readers.

Trim, tanned, and well-proportioned where it counts: those are some of the pre-requisites for making it in the gay porn business in the Czech Republic, which enjoyed a massive boom in recent years. The 'biz' has come under the spotlight recently in the country's edition of the Big Brother reality show, in which Filip Trojovsky - known professionally as Tommy Hansen - admitted to acting in gay porn films though he insisted he was heterosexual. Strike you as unusual? Apparently in the Czech Republic it is often the case that actors in gay porn are

The Czech-German border is one of history's fault lines, for centuries a place of tension between the German and the Slav worlds. For many people the events of 1938, when Hitler annexed the Czech border regions are still in living memory, and after the war almost the entire German minority of Czechoslovakia was forcibly expelled. But although we often hear about Czech-German tensions, on the ground things today are very different. Once closely guarded borders are open and cross-border relations are friendly and for the most part break the stereotype.

If you think of Prague, one of the first things that springs to mind is the magnificent 14th century Saint Vitus' Cathedral, towering above the city's skyline. But who does the cathedral actually belong to? After a thirteen-year legal battle, a district court in Prague has ruled that it is the property of the Catholic Church. This may seem obvious, but in a country where the church has had a troubled history, the whole issue has been raising strong emotions. Czechs are a largely secular nation and many people treasure St Vitus' Cathedral - and

The entire garrison town of Terezin served as a ghetto for Czech and European Jews during the Second World War and housed a Gestapo-run prison. Tens of thousands died within its walled fortresses, which were taken over by the Czechoslovak army after the war, and then abandoned in 1996. The debate over how best to both preserve -- and breathe new life -- into the northern Bohemian town took on a new urgency after it was devastated by floods in 2002. But as Brian Kenety reports, Terezin is still waiting for a miracle.

Presenters on the BBC Czech Service had the unenviable task of announcing their own demise this morning. The BBC World Service is about to introduce sweeping changes to its programming - ten of its language services, mostly in Central and Eastern Europe, are to be axed in order to finance a new Arab-language TV station. Among the ten services to go is the Czech Service, which has been on air since 1939. John Renner is a member of the World Service Management Board. He told Radio Prague why the changes were being made:

When food inspectors uncovered horrific practices at a supermarket several weeks ago Czech consumers recoiled in horror at what they saw and heard - rotten meat being marinated in order to cover up the fact that it had gone green, salami being washed in salt and vinegar to get rid of the bad smell before being put back on sale and salespeople being ordered to change the use-by date on products. But there was worse to come: what was seen as a gross violation of sales ethics in one store has surfaced in many others. And many Czechs are now wondering

Earlier this year he captured the hearts of many young listeners, winning the country's 2nd Pop Idol contest: now singer Vlasta Horavath hopes to follow up his success with his very first album. Titled 'Misto zazraku' - roughly translated as 'A Place of Miracles' it was released on Monday evening and Radio Prague was there.

The political standoff over the naming of a new health minister intensified with the de facto appointment on Friday of Czech Doctors Union chairman David Rath to the post. President Vaclav Klaus, who rejected Rath's initial candidature, was angered by the move, and continues to cry foul over alleged conflict of interest. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Jiri Paroubek is threatening to seek a ruling from the Constitutional Court on the legality of Klaus' actions.