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The country's second biggest party, the Social Democratic Party, has started its annual three day national convention. For the first time in nine years, it meets as an opposition party following the right-of-centre Civic Democrats' general election victory last year. Besides the election of a new leadership, the Social Democrats have many other topics on the agenda, including the party's modernisation plans and next year's presidential election. Delegates may also discuss a lawsuit the party is facing for failing to pay close to 20 billion crowns

The man who brought the Social Democratic Party to power nine years ago, former Prime Minister Milos Zeman, has announced he is leaving the party ranks. Mr Zeman says his sources tell him a lawsuit which has been filed against him for signing a disadvantageous contract with a Prague lawyer on behalf of the party in the 1990s was initiated by current Social Democrat chairman Jiri Paroubek. Mr Paroubek denies any connection with the lawsuit and says Milos Zeman is simply trying to influence this coming weekend's party congress which will elect a

For many young people around the continent, one of the most tangible benefits of being in the European Union is having the opportunity to study in another EU state. For 20 years the main body helping facilitate such international study has been the Erasmus programme. Ahead of a large Erasmus conference in Prague, I found out what it means for Czech students and universities.

If you listen regularly to our programme, you'll know that the city of Prague holds a lot of prestigious classical music events such as the Prague Spring competition. The Prague Premieres festival is one such event. Its unique selling point is that it concentrates solely on new classical music and has become the most important showcase of its kind in the Czech capital since it started in 2004. The compositions performed at the Prague Premieres festival are either completely new or not more than five years old. Besides compositions from the Czech

President Vaclav Klaus has launched another fierce attack on the green lobby, claiming that "ambitious environmentalism" poses a greater threat to society than communism. His comments came in written answers to a committee meeting being held on Wednesday in the U.S. House of Representatives. The Czech president said instead of trying to stop climate change, mankind should learn to live with it. Rob Cameron spoke to the head of the Czech branch of Greenpeace, Jiri Tutter, and asked him if he was surprised at Mr Klaus's comments.

Being the parent of a small child while making one's living at the same time is not an easy thing to do in the Czech Republic, as there is a serious shortage of day nurseries and crèches in this country. Now, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development has criticized the Czech Republic for the low number of child care centres in the Czech Republic. According to the OECD, the lack of childcare facilities here could have serious consequences for the careers of women who have children, which could in turn have an impact on the competitive

It was a U-turn that few had expected. Less than two months after Brno city hall decided to return the UNESCO-listed villa Tugendhat to the descendants of its pre-WWII Jewish owners, the city authority changed its mind. The original plan was to transfer the functionalist structure to the state which is legally entitled to handle the returns of property confiscated by the Nazis. After the state rejected this procedure, Brno city hall revised its previous decision.

It's being billed as the most expensive film ever made in Central Europe, so reports that a working copy was stolen from an editing room caused something of a stir. The working version of Juraj Jakubisko's new film Bathory - about the legendary 16th century "blood countess" Elizabeth Bathory - has now been recovered, and the case will now go to court.

Around 30 Czech soldiers left Prague on Monday to join up with their colleagues in the Afghan capital Kabul where a Czech military field hospital is being set up. The hospital with around 100 staff will begin operations in April, providing surgical, post-op and dental care to NATO's ISAF forces fighting Taliban militants in the country.

Prague is not known as a city of fashion. However, the country's most important event in this field - the twice-annual Prague Fashion Week - is getting more popular every year. The tenth Prague Fashion Week opened on Monday night with a show presenting the latest outfits in black and white by top Czech fashion designers, such as Tatiana Kovarikova, Jaroslava Prochazkova or E.daniely.