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Inaccessibility to public places, the lack of barrier-free public transport, and discrimination at work and schools: these are some of the most frequent problems for disabled people living in the Czech Republic. These results follow from a survey recently commissioned by the National Council for the Disabled.

Politician’s perks are perceived as a problem in most countries, and there’s often a thin line between perks and abuse of power. In the Czech Republic, a country where for 40 years the communist big wigs did exactly as they wished without being held accountable for their actions, people are extremely sensitive to any form of abuse of power or position. And politicians are closely watched whether they happen to be skiing in the Alps or attending a football match.

Following the weekend, it is clear that nothing will now prevent a teachers’ strike from going ahead on Tuesday: acting Education Minister Martin Bursik and the candidate for the post, Ondrej Liska, tried to stave off the planned protest by pledging to improve conditions in the education sector, but it was too little, too late. The December 4th strike will go ahead. It has been estimated that at least half of the country’s schools will remain closed.

President Vladimir Putin’s United Russia Party clinched a landslide victory in parliamentary elections held in the Russian Federation on Sunday. In a reaction to the preliminary results, the Czech Foreign Ministry has denounced the elections as not providing a level playing field for all the country’s political forces, and said that doubts remain about their validity. Meanwhile, the Czech Republic’s left-wing parties have also questioned the Russian elections.

This Saturday marks World Aids Day, 26 years since the first case of HIV was discovered. The year 2007 has been the darkest for the Czech Republic so far, with the number of new HIV-patients for the first time exceeding one hundred. But despite the growing number of infected people the country still records one of the lowest figures of HIV-positive patients in Europe.

Remember all the fuss a few weeks ago when a neo-Nazi group tried to march through the Jewish quarter on the anniversary of Kristallnacht? That march was prevented, but led to much discussion about the size and seriousness of the neo-Nazi threat in the Czech Republic. Now a leading Czech newspaper has claimed that neo-Nazis have managed to infiltrate the Czech Armed Forces, and has the evidence to prove it.

With the holiday season just around the corner, the traditional Prague Christmas market is due to open on Saturday in the historic centre of the Czech capital. Both visitors to Prague and locals can come to see what’s in store this year in Old Town Square and Wenceslas Square and sample some traditional Czech Christmas delicacies.

The Bush administration’s plans to build a radar base in the Czech Republic as part of the U.S. missile defence shield have stirred passions both at home and abroad. One of those who feel strongly about the idea is the Californian artist Kevin Kihn, who contacted Radio Prague with a rather unusual proposal. Instead of a radar facility, he suggested, why not build a Peace Dome in its place? We spoke to Kevin at his home in the town of Alameda, in the San Francisco Bay.

Czechs are only just getting used to the idea of doctor’s fees being introduced as of January, but the health ministry has not stopped there: on Wednesday the health minister, Tomas Julinek, presented the next step: a package of even more far-reaching reforms to significantly change the health sector.

Czechs are never happier than when they’re heading off into the woods with a basket for mushrooms and a pocket knife, and politicians have traditionally shied away from reforming how forests are owned and managed. So an announcement made by Agriculture Minister Petr Gandalovic on Friday was surprising: the government, he said, was considering selling off some of the country’s state-owned forests to private companies. I spoke to Vojtech Kotecky of the Friends of the Earth organisation, which is very much against the idea.