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Helena Ferencikova and her husband Jan always wanted to have a girl. But the young Roma couple's simple dream may never be realised, for in October 2001 -- when she was just nineteen years old -- Mrs Ferencikova was sterilised against her wishes, after giving birth to her second son. On Friday, the regional court of Ostrava stopped short of awarding damages but ruled that the hospital which performed the sterilisation owes Mrs Ferencikova an apology. The court's decision, once finalised in writing, would be the first finding in any Czech or Eastern

Allegations that state officials, including Agriculture Minister Petr Zgarba, had passed on inside information to land speculators have caused heads to roll - first those of the entire board of the powerful Land Fund and finally that of Minister Zgarba himself.

It's been in the air for weeks but now it actually happened. The newly appointed health minister, David Rath, has put that the largest state-owned health insurer, the VZP, under administration, bringing the conflict between the Social Democrat-led government and the VZP to a head. The VZP, which caters for some 70 percent of Czechs, is notorious for late payments to doctors and despite many state initiatives over the last years to improve its finances, the health insurer's current debt is more than 10 billion crowns (over 400 million US

All eyes will be on a muddy football pitch in Oslo this Saturday, as the Czech Republic do battle with Norway for one of five places left open for next year's World Cup in Germany. The Czech Republic became independent in 1993, but has failed to qualify for the last three World Cups.

The fallout continues from the escape earlier this week of two convicted murderers from Pilsen's Bory prison. The prison's director has already resigned, but two cabinet ministers are now involved in a row over who bears responsibility for the escape.

This week, people in Prague have a unique opportunity to try traditional dishes and delicacies from faraway Peru - the motherland of the potato. A weeklong Peruvian gastronomy festival in one of Prague's hotels offers a taste of a cuisine blending ancestral Inca flavours with European and Asian influences. But there are more links between Czechs and Peruvians than the prominent status of the potato in their cuisines.

The Cabinet on Wednesday accepted Agriculture Minister Petr Zgarba's proposal that Parliament dismiss the entire board of the powerful Czech Land Fund - the body responsible for the sale and management of state-owned land. The proposed sacking of the Land Fund board - of which Mr Zgarba is chairman - comes in reaction to outcry over the sale this summer to "speculators" of property now worth hundreds of times the asking price.

Imagine the following scene: you are shopping at your local supermarket - wondering what brand of cornflakes you want for breakfast - when you see a man with a gun wondering around, occasionally taking aim and firing, while the management takes no notice. Believe it or not shoppers in a Tesco store in the West Bohemian town of Pilsen really witnessed this scary scene.

In the run up to joining the European Union last year, the Phare programme was the main channel through which the Czech Republic received financial assistance for various projects. But in future the EU may become a good deal more cautious in what it offers to Czech businesses and public administrations. Eight people entrusted with the process of transferring money from the Phare fund to the Czech Republic are now suspected of having tried to put millions of crowns into their own pockets.

This year we have had a glorious and mild autumn with few signs of the winter to come. So it seems so much the more strange to see Christmas trees, Santa Claus and jingling bells here in the heart of Prague. Christmas decorations are already going up in shops around the city, and the prize for milking the Yuletide season for all its worth has to go to the Flora Palace shopping centre in the district of Vinohrady. Ever since mid-October it has been decked out in its full seasonal regalia. Alexander Ohrn went down there to see how people feel about