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It may sound hard to believe, but a Czech neo-Nazi group has acquired a permit to hold a march through Prague's historic Jewish quarter. What's really incredible is the date the far-right group's demonstration is set to take place: the anniversary of the notorious Nazi pogrom known as Kristallnacht. And to cap it all, the Prague Town Hall seems to have no legal means of stopping the march.

For some time now officials in Brussels have criticized the Czech Republic for a lack of know-how when it comes to drawing on EU funds. Belated or botched applications could cost the country millions of euros in lost funds, paralyzing important research and development programmes. The first head rolled on Tuesday, when Education Minister Dana Kuchtova announced she was resigning in connection with a poorly drafted bid for EU funding.

Next February the Czech Republic is set to choose a new president. Both houses of the country's parliament will take part in a secret vote to decide if Vaclav Klaus remains in office, or if the country gets a new president. But will that be the last such vote? The idea of a direct vote by the public has been discussed many times over the years. What are the chances of that becoming reality any time soon? Direct presidential elections was the subject of a debate at the Senate on Wednesday.

Czech President Vaclav Klaus took the opportunity to discuss one of his favourite topics on Monday, when he spoke at the first ever conference on climate change at the United Nations. For some time now Mr Klaus has been challenging received wisdom on global warming, saying mankind is not to blame for rises in temperature, and downplaying both the extent and impact of such increases. But the president's speech in New York was notable for the absence of the fiery language with which he has previously attacked environmentalists.

Over the course of a decade, the film director Pavel Koutecky shot 45 hours' of unique behind-the-scenes footage of former president Vaclav Havel, at work and at play, from picking his way through Machiavellian post-election negotiations to giving restaurant tips to the Rolling Stones. Pavel Koutecky died in a tragic accident last year, but the film - called Citizen Havel - is now in post-production, and will premiere in the Czech Republic in January. On Monday there was a sneak preview of the working version at Prague's MAT cinema, where we spoke

The Czech prime minister's rocky relationship with the media reached a head on Monday. At an emotionally charged news briefing, Mirek Topolanek lashed out at journalists, accusing them of bias, betrayal and corrupt practices. He even went so far as to call for a law which would regulate press freedom.

Ever since he painted a Soviet tank pink in 1991, David Cerny has remained one of the Czech Republic's more daring and innovative artists, whose work continues to provoke. His work - including enormous babies scaling the city's TV tower - can be seen in and around Prague but also abroad. Last week a new piece titled "Metalmorphosis" was unveiled in Charlotte, North Carolina, in the US. The event was attended by Czech and US representatives, as well as the seminal Czech underground band the Plastic People of the Universe.

The number of Vietnamese applicants for Czech visas has more than tripled since 2000; in fact, more than 8,000 Vietnamese citizens applied for both long- and short-term visas for the Czech Republic last year. However, the Czech embassy in Vietnam has come under criticism. Critics say the consular service at the Czech Embassy in Hanoi is not coping with the large numbers of visa applicants; allegations that staff at the embassy are corrupt have been refuted.

The Czech art market has been thriving for the past few years and Czech auction houses have witnessed number of record sales. This weekend a Cubist painting "Girl in Pink" by the renowned twentieth-century artist Josef Capek was sold to an anonymous bidder for 12 million crowns (about 615,000 USD). It is the second highest sum paid for a painting in the Czech Republic. The Czech auction record for a work by Czech painter was set earlier this year by Frantisek Kupka's "Abstract Composition".

September is a time of wine harvest festivities around the country. Typically, they take place in the traditional winegrowing regions of south Moravia and the Melnik district north of Prague. But the Czech capital itself boasts five vineyards, some dating back as early as the 12th century. The vineyard closest to the city centre, Grebovka, held celebrations this past weekend and Radio Prague was there.