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Leaders of the country’s ruling coalition met on Wednesday to discuss upcoming tasks and priorities. The one important issue which was pointedly avoided was the possible return by Christian Democrat leader Jiří Čunek to the government. Mr Čunek stepped down last year as deputy prime minister and minister for regional affairs over charges of alleged bribe-taking, but was later cleared. His party is now pushing for his reinstatement, but some members of the government – including the Greens – remain opposed. Mr Čunek’s possible return threatens the

Monday is the Irish national holiday St Patrick’s Day, but the 11th Prague St Patrick’s Festival is already underway. The special guest at Thursday morning’s opening was Ireland’s minister for health, Mary Harney. I spoke to Minister Harney about Ireland’s pioneering smoking ban, the country’s cabinet jetting around the world for St Patrick’s Day – and the impact of foreign workers from the Czech Republic and elsewhere on the Irish economy in recent years.

Czech lawmakers have recommended that people forced to abandon their homes in Carpathian Ruthenia, when this part of Czechoslovakia was ceded to the Soviet Union at the end of WWII, be compensated. Estimates suggest that this may cost the Czech government as much as 1 billion crowns.

A new study on the elderly in Czech retirement or nursing homes has suggested that some six percent of residents of such homes suffer maltreatment, either at the hands of staff or fellow inhabitants. Conducted by Masaryk University in Brno, Moravia, the study looked at the lives of elderly inhabitants in 16 different facilities, asking about everything from interpersonal situations to the quality of nutrition to day-to-day care.

The Czech Parliament has failed to overrule a presidential veto of a bill which was meant to lift a ban on the use of foxes in the training of burrowing dogs. Under the current regulation, foxes can only be used in dog training if they are blocked off from the dogs so that the animals cannot hurt each other. While Czech hunters complain that during real hunts, poorly trained dogs are easy prey for wild animals, animal rights activists endorse the persisting ban, emphasizing the cruelty of full-contact dog training. Radio Prague spoke to Marcela

A recent ruling by the Czech Advertising Standards Authority has stated that a billboard advert for an energy drink featuring a picture of a sleeping foreign minister Karel Schwarzenberg is unethical. This represents one in a series of similar rulings by the authority. So is the regulation of advertising in the Czech Republic going too far or not far enough?

One of the world’s most successful tennis stars, Martina Navrátilová, is again a Czech citizen after more than 30 years. The nine-times Wimbledon champion made the announcement to journalists in Tokyo on Tuesday, but stressed that the move would have no effect on her status as an American national, nor was her decision politically motivated, as many had speculated.

Now, feeling peckish? Not sure what to have for dinner tonight? How about duck foie gras "au torchon" on a quince compote and spice bread pan-fried escalope with cardamom and white polenta? Or maybe yellow fin tuna caramelized with ginger and tartar with sesame seeds, red onion and orange and sour tomato sorbet? Those are just some of the dishes on the menu at Prague’s Allegro restaurant, which has just become the first restaurant in the former Eastern bloc to receive the coveted Michelin star. Among those who’ve eaten at Allegro – located in the

According to figures released on Monday, inflation was running at 7.5 percent in the Czech Republic in February – as it had been the previous month. Many Czechs are concerned about spiralling prices of everyday goods and services – and the government has even increased the old-age pension to offer some relief to the elderly. Why is inflation so high? And how long can it remain at current levels?

One of the legends of Czech theatre, the actor Radovan Lukavský, died on Monday at the age of 88. Lukavský’s renown was largely built on such performances as his 1960s Hamlet at the National Theatre, though many Czechs will remember him for his part in a 1970s TV adaptation of a novel by Alois Jirásek. Ruth Fraňková looks back at the life of one of the all-time great Czech actors.