Current Affairs | All stories

It was to be the party of the year given by the prestigious fashion company Louis Vuitton on Prague's most famous landmark - Charles Bridge. However the idea that Charles Bridge, considered a national treasure, should be closed to the public for two days because of a private party has elicited so much criticism that city councilors have had to step in and lay down strict new rules pertaining to the two day lease.

In the Czech Republic, the first motorway was opened as late as in 1971. It was completed many years after construction, slowed down by the Second World War and the Communists, began. By the time the Communist regime fell, the only motorway that was fully completed was that connecting Prague to Brno, which somewhat unusually runs through the heart of the Czech capital. Increasing road construction is gradually overwhelming Prague with traffic. But experts say the worst has yet to come. With the country now an EU member, there is great pressure

Czech police are still searching for over seventy of some ninety asylum seekers who have disappeared from two holding centres. The Egyptian nationals escaped on Friday night but the Interior Ministry only made the news public on Monday.

Historians working in the library of a Benedictine monastery in Rajhrad near the city of Brno have made an extraordinary discovery. By accident they found a fragment of a manuscript most likely dating as far back as the 8th century. If its age and origin are indeed confirmed, the fragment will be treasured as one of two oldest documents owned by cultural institutions in Moravia.

This summer's football World Cup was a big disappointment for the Czech Republic, who were knocked out in the group stage. But the World Cup is already history, and the Czech team are now preparing for the qualifiers for the 2008 European Championships; their opening game is against Wales at home on Saturday, while next Wednesday they play their former compatriots Slovakia in Bratislava. I discussed those games and more with goalkeeper Petr Cech.

In a few days' time it will be three months since the Czech election ended in stalemate, dividing Parliament equally between the left and right. Having won, the right-of-centre Civic Democrats and leader Mirek Toplanek earned the right to lead negotiations on a new government but have so far not been successful. For Mr Topolanek last week, things got worse before getting better. On Friday, it appeared that he and his party would be fully left out in the cold, after his political rival, Social Democrat leader Jiri Paroubek, took the initiative to

On Sunday, a group of neo-Nazis gathered outside the Israeli embassy in Prague to protest against Israel's Middle East policy. Knives, truncheons, and gas pistols had to be confiscated by the police and 26 of the protesters were detained and taken in for questioning. Almost all of the demonstrators were members of the National Resistance organisation.

It is now official: Our solar system has only eight planets. In Thursday's vote at the General Assembly of the International Astronomical Union here in Prague, astronomers from all over the world approved a definition of what a planet is and decided to relegate Pluto into a special category called "dwarf planets". As a result of the Prague congress, textbooks around the world will now have to be rewritten.

Thursday brought an unexpected twist in the complicated negotiations on forming a new government. In an attempt to gain the upper hand in a long-running tussle with the right since June's inconclusive general elections, Social Democrat leader Jiri Paroubek pulled the plug on talks with the Civic Democrats and turned to the Christian Democrats as a potential coalition partner.

Earlier this week, Interior Minister Frantisek Bublan introduced plans for the Czech Republic to establish an anti-terrorism centre. Police and intelligence services have been advocating such a move for months, saying that there needs to be a centralized unit in this country working to fight terrorism. Such a centre would be charged with collecting and sorting information about terrorism-related issues, and communicating with partners abroad to ensure an effective exchange of information. Yet the idea hasn't been received with much enthusiasm from