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A two-day conference that is to be held on the grounds of the Chamber of Deputies this weekend has been causing much controversy. Speakers from around Europe will be in Prague to discuss the future of Iraq but the conference organisers have refused to reveal the names of the participants. The speculation that followed has led to a political row, a complaint from the Iraqi embassy, and criminal charges against Czech TV. Dita Asiedu reports:

It was a news report that sent shivers down people's spines - since last May a 30-year old male nurse had killed seven people and attempted to kill ten more at a hospital in eastern Bohemia's Havlickuv Brod. There is no indication that his motive was euthanasia - none of the people he killed were suffering from a terminal illness and they were all expected to recover.

The highly-publicised dispute between the Czech Repubic and the Japanese investment group Nomura appears close to resolution. The Czech Finance Minister Vlastimil Tlusty told reporters on Thursday the matter was now settled. However a key role will be played by the president, who has been asked to pardon two Nomura employees as part of the deal.

More medicine, more money, and a motivated work force is what the world still needs - says the World Health Organisation today, World AIDS Day, 25 years after the first case of HIV was discovered. Today, two thirds of HIV/AIDS patients are in sub-Saharan Africa. But the statistics for Europe are just as alarming. The annual increase of cases is 40 percent higher than in Africa, mostly due to rapidly rising cases in Eastern Europe. In the Czech Republic, 904 people were infected with HIV when the latest statistics were released on October 31. Together

The Czech foreign minister Alexandr Vondra appeared to confirm this week what defence analysts have been speculating upon for some time: if the United States decides to place part of its missile defence system in Europe, the Czech Republic will almost certainly be asked to host a radar and tracking station, not a full-blown missile base. However there are still many hurdles to be overcome before work on such a facility can begin.

With the coming Christmas break football fans will have a chance to reflect on the past season - both on the domestic scene and on the international level, and many will no doubt be pleased to note progress by Petr Cech - the country's No. 1 keeper who was seriously injured in October. Cech suffered a skull fracture after a collision with Stephen Hunt in a Reading-Chelsea match, an injury that left a shadow over the player's career. Originally, it was thought that Cech could be out for as much as year before returning to the pitch. Now, the news

It is a vicious circle: poor education -unemployment - bad housing. Despite efforts to integrate the Roma community into Czech society, the Roma still remain on the fringe of society, unable to break free of the constraints which pre-determine their place in life. A report by the Vienna-based European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia says more effort needs to be undertaken across Europe to resolve this problem.

On Tuesday U.S. President George W. Bush announced plans to modify his country's visa waiver program that would raise the number of countries whose citizens can enter the United States without a visa. This move could affect the Czech Republic, allowing its citizens to travel to the U.S. on business or pleasure for 90 days without going through the arduous process of obtaining a visa. Emily Udell has the report.

Silesia, a Pearl in the Bohemian Crown - is a new exhibition that is currently underway in Prague. As Dita Asiedu reports, paintings, sculptures, drawings and prints illustrate the artistic relations among Silesia, Bohemia and Moravia from the 14th to the 18th century:

The Czech Republic has blocked an EU Commission proposal that would have seen a 4.5 percent hike on taxes on alcohol including beer. That is something that would no doubt have a major impact on the Czech Republic as a major producer and consumer: here, beer is considered a national product. On Tuesday, Finance Minister Vlastimil Tlusty indicated the decision to veto wasn't just about raising taxes alone but overall fairness since, for example, wine producers' products are largely exempt. He said that the proposed hike left beer brewers at a