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The governing Social Democratic Party is going through a period of upheaval at the moment, with deep divisions emerging recently over leader Vladimir Spidla's handling of the presidential elections. One wing of the party loyal to former leader and Milos Zeman - who failed to get elected president - wants to get rid of Mr Spidla. The anti-Spidla faction may take the opportunity of elections to the party leadership at this weekend's party conference as an opportunity to challenge him. The majority of regional party organisations have given Mr Spidla

The presence of Czech troops in the Middle East is an issue which people and politicians alike tend to disagree over. Should the anti-chemical unit go to Iraq? Should the Czech Republic support the United States? These are some of the questions that Czechs are asking themselves since the onset of war. The fact of the matter is that Czechs, along with the Slovaks, do have troops in Kuwait. Though it may be uncertain what Czechs think about their presence in the Middle East it is however clear what the presence and cooperation of the Czech-Slovak

Spring is here and with it a new project aimed at encouraging Czechs to visit the mountains called "Tisicovky Cech, Moravy a Slezka" - or "Thousand-metre-high Mountains in Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia". The inspiration for the project came from the 19th century Scottish mountain-lover Sir Hugh Munro, who in 1891 compiled a list of the country's peaks, which have since become known as "Munros". Radio Prague spoke to one of the organisers of the "Tisicovky" project, Tomas Formanek, and asked him how many Czech mountains reached a thousand metres

In recent years thousands of Czech Romanies have left this country to seek asylum abroad, with many of them attempting to start a new life in Great Britain. Four years ago, Czech Romany Ladislav Balaz set up a Roma community centre in the London suburb of Tottenham in order to help his people communicate with the British authorities. I recently spoke to Mr Balaz, who left for the UK after a Roma friend of his was killed in the north Moravian town of Orlova, and began by asking him what services the centre provided to Romanies.

Just a few days ago the new Czech president Vaclav Klaus tried to appease Germans and Austrians in the European parliament by condemning the atrocities of World War Two including the subsequent expulsion of ethnic Germans from Czechoslovakia. This after years of disputes between Sudeten German associations and Czech representatives over the validity of the so-called Benes decrees which sanctioned the expulsions, and possible compensation for confiscated property. Although European politicians are satisfied and say Mr Klaus brought the dispute to

With all eyes on the war in Iraq and growing apprehensions over the number of casualties on both sides, the Czech Republic is resolute on one thing: to provide humanitarian aide the length of the conflict and beyond. The country has also pledged its elite nuclear, biological, and chemical unit to come to the US-led coalition's assistance if Saddam Hussein were to resort to weapons of mass destruction. Though in their hearts many Czechs are against the war overall there is no question over their NBC troops' necessity in the Gulf, and most applaud

At a time when most Czechs are anxiously surveying the war in Iraq, when security has been heightened at home because of potential terrorist attacks, the national Security Information Service is looking for an unknown assailant in eastern Moravia, responsible for repeated bomb threats throughout the month of March. Two weeks ago police uncovered the assailant's handiwork: an expertly placed home-made bomb planted under a local railway bridge - confirmation the threat was serious. The anonymous caller then demanded officials place 10 million crowns

As the war in Iraq continues there is the increasing threat of chemical or biological weapons being used in the conflict. Czech troops are under continuing pressure to act if such event would occur. Martin Hrobsky spoke to Czech Radio's correspondent in Kuwait, Vit Pohanka. He began by asking him what happens in the event of an attack and what life is like for the Czech anti-chemical troops stationed in Kuwait.

Among the numerous exhibitions currently taking place in Prague's many galleries and museums is one show which offers art-lovers an unusual opportunity to see at first-hand the art of Canada's Inuit people. Entitled Asingit, meaning Different Ones, the exhibition is being held at the renowned Naprstek Museum of Ethnic Cultures.

Avin Taha is a confident, poised and articulate young graduate from the Masaryk University in the Czech second city of Brno, where she studied sociology and journalism. She is half Czech and half Iraqi Kurd -her Czech mother is a music teacher, her father an Iraqi engineer who studied in the 1970s in Prague. Most of Avin's early childhood was spent in Baghdad, which she remembers with nostalgia and where she still has many relatives. For people like Avin Taha the current war is a particularly painful time.