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A ruling on Thursday by the Constitutional Court was good news for many towns and villages across the Czech Republic. It enables local authorities to ban prostitution from public areas. In the verdict, the court said the potential harmful effect of publicly offered sexual services on the moral development of children is greater than the freedom of enterprise.

After four years in office President Klaus is the most trusted Czech politician. A poll by the SC&C agency suggests that two thirds of Czechs would like to see him re-elected for a second term presidential elections due next year. But it is not the public who will be electing the next president. That is a task for Parliament, which means that there are conflicting political interests involved. So what are Mr. Klaus' chances of getting re-elected?

March 8th is International Women's Day but there's little to show for it in the Czech Republic. Most Czechs' memories of International Women's Day are restricted to folk songs, drink, red carnations and communist rhetoric. As a result, it has been discarded as a remnant of the past and few people today even notice its existence. The Czech Women's Lobby is now trying to change that and get Czechs to re-embrace the original idea behind International Women's Day. Blanka Knotkova from the Gender Studies Department of Charles University remembers the

The English-speaking community in Prague has few chances to see drama performed in English. But this is just about to change, as The Prague Post - the country's leading English-language newspaper - has decided to encourage English-language theatre in the city, and founded its own festival of short plays.

Toughening up the Czech Republic's rather toothless anti-smoking legislation is back on the agenda this week, but those hoping for a strict ban along the lines of Italy or Ireland are likely to be disappointed. An amendment to the existing law on smoking in the workplace is due to be discussed in parliament. The proposals are hardly earth-shattering, but even so they're unlikely to succeed.

It has been six years since the father-and-son filmmaking team of Zdenek and Jan Sverak last premiered a new film, making their latest Vratne Lahve - Refundable Bottles - a much-anticipated project. Over the years the father and son, who won the Best Foreign film Oscar for 1996's Kolya, had something of a professional "falling out" when son Jan rejected an earlier version of his father's script. But both eventually found consensus on a final version and are now back at full force.

The Christian Democrats leader Jiri Cunek seems to never be off the front pages these days, with a constant flow of allegations concerning his investigation on suspicion of bribe-taking when he was mayor of a town in Moravia. On Tuesday there was at least a little good news for the beleaguered Mr Cunek, when he received the public backing of his party. But the question remains: can he ride out the storm?

Most European countries seem to agree on a speed limit of 130 km/hour or less on their motorways. The Czech Republic, however, may soon become the only country in Europe where the limit would be 160 km/hour. But that higher speed limit seems to be popular mainly among some Czech politicians - experts are less enthusiastic about the idea.

As we reported last month, the Supreme Court cancelled all previous rulings by lower courts that ordered the Czech state to hand over Prague's St Vitus Cathedral to the Roman Catholic Church. The administration of Prague Castle is now claiming the monument back. On Tuesday, the representatives of both parties met to discuss further steps.

Studying wine labels can be a daunting business if you are not a connoisseur and if you spend hours making up your mind what to select from your local wine-shop think how much harder things are for the blind, who would need to bring a friend or depend entirely on the shop assistant. Now a wine producer in Moravia has taken a step to change that. The Galant winery from Mikulov has started producing the first wine labels with letters in Braille. We spoke to one of the firm's co-owners Martin Marian to find out more about this pioneering endeavor