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The emotional story of Marcela, a woman whose marriage and divorce, as well as loss of her daughter were captured on film, won the award for best European documentary at the Sevilla Film Festival on Saturday. Originally a part a series “Studies in Marriage”, the film follows the fortunes and misfortunes of Marcela through long-term observance technique – a style typical for director Helena Trestikova. Talking to Radio Prague, Ms Trestikova said that the film’s success in Sevilla had come as a pleasant surprise.

It is only mid-November but Czechs are already gearing up for a massive spending spree in the run up to Christmas. And it is not just salespeople who are expecting record profits: consumer debt is spiraling and in the euphoria of making their dreams come true here-and-now few Czechs are reading the small print.

On Tuesday, poets from all over the world gathered in Prague for the sixth International Poetry Festival to be held in the city. This year, the Czech capital is playing host to poets from sixteen different countries, including Iraq, Jordan, Israel and Portugal. More than ever before, the International Poetry Festival is a melting pot of dozens of different languages, and has translation as one of its key themes. English speakers are by no means left out:

In a landmark verdict, the European Court of Human Rights has ruled that the Czech Republic violated the rights of Roma children by placing them in so-called special schools for children with learning difficulties. The state has been ordered to pay the 18 families who took the case 4,000 euros each in compensation. Meanwhile, Roma rights campaigners are calling on the Czech Republic to adopt positive measures to address the segregation that still exists, despite changes to the law.

More paper work for religious charities in the Czech Republic is the outcome of a Constitutional Court ruling on Tuesday. The Court rejected a complaint against a controversial 2005 amendment to the Act on Churches and Religious Societies. As of now, every church-run charity in the Czech Republic will have to register with the Culture Ministry.

In an interview for BBC television, Czech President Vaclav Klaus has said that he expects a radar base proposed by the US will one day be a reality on Czech territory, although he stressed it would not be “tomorrow” or in the nearest future. Mr Klaus was asked about missile defense on the BBC’s HardTalk programme: while reluctant to speculate over the necessity of a missile shield regarding rogue states, the president did indicate Prague’s support for the US was a show of solidarity in keeping with transatlantic relations.

A controversy is currently disturbing the Czech Republic’s serene folk music scene. Singer-songwriter Jaroslav Hutka, who spent ten years in exile in Holland after having been forced out of communist Czechoslovakia in 1978, has had a go at Jaromir Nohavica, a best-selling and hugely popular songwriter. In his new song “Udavac” (“The Snitch”), Hutka accuses Nohavica of failing to explain his collaboration with the secret police in the late 1980s.

The failure of neo-Nazis to march through Prague’s Jewish quarter – and the subsequent skirmishes between skinheads and anarchist demonstrators – have certainly dominated the headlines in recent days. Images of battered and bloodied skinheads being taken away by police were flashed around the world’s media, who described Saturday as a fiasco for the far right. But could next weekend turn into a second instalment?

The recently discovered horoscope of Duke Albrecht of Wallenstein is one of the most important of its kind. It surpasses other horoscopes from the period with its detailed explanations of the Duke's life, and its use of the then most contemporary astrological techniques. Created in 1627 by an unknown astrologer, it charts eleven years of the duke's life, and is a document which, if it had fallen into the wrong hands, could have provided what would be regarded as sensitive information to his enemies. The horoscope featuring in a major exhibition

A march through Prague’s Jewish Quarter planned by neo-Nazi groups – which had been banned, then permitted and then banned again by the authorities – did not happen in the end. Around three thousand people gathered at several places in the former Jewish Town on Saturday to block the march, and the police foiled any attempts of the far-right groups to come near the area. The event ended in isolated clashes between far-right and far-left radicals.