Current Affairs | All stories

They once used to roam around Europe in large herds but since the Middle Ages they have been on the verge of extinction. We are talking about the European bison, a close relative of the American buffalo. Bison are believed to have disappeared from the Czech lands many centuries ago. But this week, one - or perhaps a couple were spotted in the woods of the Jizerske Mountains in North Bohemia.

Just over a year ago the Czech Republic lost one of its great sports heroes. Former hockey player and later national team coach Ivan Hlinka was killed in a car accident - at the height of his fame. A year on, an exhibition has opened in Prague as a tribute to the man who led the Czech hockey team from one victory to another.

Prague's Old Town Square, Charles Bridge and other attractive parts of the historic centre are busier these days than usual. It's because a South Korean film crew are shooting a romantic TV series in the city called "Lovers in Prague". It is a sequel to a popular series "Lovers in Paris" which had a regular audience of 10 million people and radically increased the number of Koreans travelling to the French capital.

In the months leading up to last year's expansion of the European Union, many member states expressed concern about a potential influx of cheap labour from the new member countries. Most chose to introduce a transitional period of restrictions, while Sweden, Ireland, and Britain opened their labour markets. A British government study conducted last year forecast that between 5,000-13,000 workers from the new EU member states would register for work every year. But that number has been the average registered every month.

Two former teenage contestants on the Czech version of the international hit show 'Pop Idol' have joined forces for a one-off duet. The young men, Samer Issa and Filip Jankovic, both made it into the final rounds of the enormously popular television show Cesko hleda Superstar. Can they capitalise on their '15 minutes' of fame?

The expulsion of more than two million ethnic Germans from Czechoslovakia after World War II has long remained a source of tension in Czech-German relations and one of the most controversial chapters in Czechoslovakia's post-war history. On Wednesday, for the first time, the Czech government expressed a symbolic apology and regret over the post-war victimisation of thousands of Sudeten Germans, who had remained loyal to the Czechoslovak state and had been active in the anti-Nazi resistance. The gesture, approved unanimously by the government, has

With the planned start of accession talks between the EU and Turkey drawing near, opponents of Turkey's accession to the EU are ringing alarm bells across Europe. Opinion surveys have shown that the fear of having Turkey as an EU member state is now present in most EU countries. The results of such a survey here in the Czech Republic indicate that only 37 percent of Czechs would be in favour of Turkey's admission, 51 percent are against.

Hundreds of thousands of tourists flock to North Bohemia's Krkonose or Giant Mountains and their valleys (55,000 hectares of land) every year to enjoy the best that nature has to offer. But not all of them show respect for the environment and, in their enthusiasm to make extra money, plunder the area, causing serious damage to protected flora and the wildlife.

Ever wonder what animals at the zoo do at night when they think nobody's watching? Whether orangs hang out in the leafy Indonesian pavilion or young wolves go on the prowl? Whether bats bicker over ceiling space? Here's a last chance, this summer, to find out.

The case of a Qatari prince convicted in the Czech Republic for sexually abusing young girls appeared close to resolution on Monday, after the Supreme Court in Brno ruled that he may be extradited to his homeland. The decision marks the end of a bitter quarrel between Justice Minister Pavel Nemec and the Supreme State Prosecutor Marie Benesova.