Current Affairs | All stories

Last month it came to light that Tesco, the owner of the original Maj building in the centre of Prague, was considering demolishing the famous department store in favour of a newer building. Maj, in its original form, has stood on the corner of Narodni and Spalena Streets since 1975 - and then - as now - is one of Prague's best-known shopping centres. Consequently, many Czechs - but also a number of important architects- say it would be a mistake if the building were pulled down.

As the EU called for the immediate release of Belarus opposition leader Aleksander Kozulin, the Czech Prime Minister Jiri Paroubek condemned the use of force against crowds protesting against the results of the recent presidential elections. Mr Paroubek also said the Czech foreign ministry was considering concrete ways of supporting those arrested in the crackdown against demonstrators. Rob Cameron has this report.

The Czech Republic has detected its first case of bird flu in a swan. Veterinary tests showed the presence of the H5 virus although it will not be clear until Wednesday whether it was the deadly H5N1 variety, which is dangerous to human beings.

The veteran politician, doctor and literary translator Jaroslava Moserova passed away in the early hours of Friday morning after a long illness. She was 76. Jaroslava Moserova was best known in recent years as a senator, but she also served as an ambassador to Australia, and was also a leading burns specialist - she was the first doctor to treat Jan Palach, the Czech student who set himself alight on Wenceslas Square. Rob Cameron has this look back on a life lived very much to the full.

The EU is considering the possibility of imposing sanctions against Belarus after its disputed presidential elections. Not surprisingly, it is the EU newcomers who have experienced four decades of communist oppression, that are spearheading the drive for some kind of effective action against the regime of President Alexander Lukashenko.

It is always a challenge finding a suitable birthday present for someone, at least when that person is a multi billionaire head of state, but this is something with which Czech craftsmen have had to deal this year. As Great Britain's Queen Elizabeth II approaches her 80th birthday, a leading Czech glassworks has begun work on a unique birthday gift on behalf of the Czech people.

Sixteen years after the fall of communism, state-run psychiatric care in the Czech Republic still has not managed to completely shake off the stigma of being misused as well as neglected by the regime. Although much has been done in the last years, many critics still say mental hospitals - many of them built a century ago - are still worlds of their own, cut off from normal life. The Bohnice mental hospital in Prague has decided to show the public that despite a difficult financial situation, it offers more than a bed and medication to its

It took all of sixteen years but the former owners of Kokorin Castle -the Spacek family - are an important step closer to regaining their family's inheritance. On Wednesday a regional court ruled that this majestic Gothic building should be restored to the family from whom the communists confiscated it when they came to power in 1948.

The American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA) has brought over 1,000 American experts in tourism to Prague this week. Their goal is to become specialists on the Czech Republic and other Central European countries with the help of sightseeing tours, seminars, and a trade fair at which Czech and Central European travel agencies are presenting their holiday packages.

On Tuesday, Prague city councillors officially approved plans for a new pavilion to be built just within Prague's Stromovka Park. An ultra-modern structure, the building has been planned for one reason: to house a famous series of paintings created by Czech art nouveau painter Alphonse Mucha, the Slav Epic. Completed in 1928, the series celebrates the mythical beginnings and legendary milestones in Slav history. Remarkably, until now the series has lacked a 'permanent' home. That will now change.