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The Christian Democratic Party has a new leader. He is the controversial mayor of Vsetin, Senator Jiri Cunek - a man whom some see as a racist and others as a pragmatic, down to earth politician who could bring the Christian Democrats out of a rut. But who is Jiri Cunek and can he really turn around the party's fortunes?

The American Center in Prague has a new home: the Wratislavsky Palace in Prague's Mala Strana district. The Center is the cultural and educational arm of the US Embassy, and has had many addresses over the years. The new location, embassy staff hope, will be the Center's home for many years to come.

Students from a secondary school in Prague where almost all the pupils come from the Roma minority recited poetry, sang and even performed a jazz improvisation at a Prague cafe on Thursday evening. This was all to celebrate the presentation of a new set of annual literary awards, named after the academic Milena Hubschmannova, who until her death last year had devoted many years to supporting Romany writing and culture. The competition received several dozen entries, and there was only one condition: they had to be written in the Romani language,

When the mayor of Vsetin Jiri Cunek evicted several hundred Romany rent-defaulters from their homes and moved them to a complex of portacabins on the outskirts of town several weeks ago he set off a storm of controversy. Some called him a racist, others applauded his courage in addressing a long-standing problem. On Thursday the Senate's Human Rights Commission set out to investigate the matter - and concluded that the mayor had made the right decision.

One thing missing so far from this Christmas season is proper Christmas weather: snowy conditions and temperatures well below zero degrees Celsius. So far this month, the mercury has stubbornly stayed well above freezing, for instance, daily it has been around 11 degrees Celsius). That has some skiers suffering - with very few runs at any ski hills operating. Still, it's too early to get too worried yet: as Jan Velinger reports, operators are confident things will soon take a turn for the better.

Now stop me if you've heard this one before, but the right-of-centre Civic Democrats have just unveiled their latest proposal for a new pro-reform government. The Civic Democrats are holding talks with the other political parties before taking the proposal to President Vaclav Klaus next week. So does it stand a greater chance of success than the party's first attempt to form a government, which ended in failure last month?

For the past two weeks, the Czech crown has been trading at a record high against two major world currencies, the euro and the US dollar. The increasing value of the crown affects not only businesses, but also consumers, especially now, as citizens are flooding shopping centers looking for holiday bargains.

The case of the male nurse who killed eight patients on his ward has shocked the Czech public and opened up many questions regarding security in hospitals, the responsibility of doctors and the work of the police. Was it really necessary for so many people to die before the culprit was uncovered and are hospitals safe havens where patients are in competent hands - or a place where one must fend for oneself just like any other?

The eve of St. Nicholas' Day, known as Mikulas in Czech, has always been special in the Czech Republic. Adults and many teenagers traditionally dress up as St Nicholas, an angel, and a devil, visiting children to see if they have been well-behaved. In the past, the experience could be quite scary for youngsters - especially the youngest - afraid the devil, complete with horns, chains, and shaggy fur coat, would take them away. But, it may be changing - nowadays more children seem to be taking it as just a chance to dress up.

Seventeen years after the fall of communism, there seems to be no end to court cases demanding the return of property confiscated in the last century. The latest high-profile case is different, in that it goes back not to the 1940s but as far back as 1921. The claimant, a descendant of an Austrian noble family, is asking for the return of one of the Czech Republic's best known castles, confiscated after the First World War. The argument she hopes will win the case for her is a remarkable love story.