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The Czech government, this week, decided to extend uranium mining for an indefinite term. Production at the Vysocina region's state-owned Dolni Rozinka mine was originally to end in 2008. Under the new resolution, the Diamo company overseeing uranium mining will file an economic benefit report every year and production will continue as long as it will be profitable.

Many areas of life have changed hugely since the Velvet Revolution - including the world of Czech art. Art as a political phenomenon before and after 1989 was the subject of a debate at the Slovak Institute in Prague on Wednesday.

Marta Topferova sings in Spanish despite being born here in the Czech Republic and spending most of her life in the US. Still in her early thirties, she has released several albums over the last decade and has earned an enviable reputation in world music circles; on Wednesday she performed at the opening of the Respect music festival at Prague's Palac Akropolis. I spoke to Marta Topferova just before the show, and began by asking how she had first got into Latin American music.

The coalition government of Mirek Topolanek on Wednesday unanimously approved the first stage of broad public finance reforms. The plan brings changes to the tax and welfare systems and also introduces new healthcare fees. Now it remains for the government to push the proposal through the lower house. The coalition cabinet is in for some tough negotiations this summer as the opposition is firmly against the reforms and the government cannot even rely on the support of all coalition MPs.

Almost one fifth of the Czech Republic's air pollution is caused by transport and yet efforts to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions in cars have borne little fruit. But this week, EU industry ministers said they have drawn up a plan that is expected to win the approval of the two main players in the debate - environmentalists and carmakers.

It is almost two weeks since a disturbing story broke about a little boy named Ondrej who had been severely abused by his mother. From that point on, the whole thing became more and more curious, as somebody said to be his 13-year-old sister disappeared from a children's home. First it emerged that the authorities had no record of "Anna", who Ondrej's mother had been attempting to adopt. Hundreds of police officers searched the country for "Anna", in vain. Now it seems that the alleged 13-year-old is in fact a diminutive 34-year-old woman. The girl

Tady a Ted (Here & Now) is an association that has worked to help children from marginalised families in the city of Pilsen, West Bohemia since 2004. Not long ago, together with People in Need, it launched a successful project entitled Cesta z Ghetta - Out of the Ghetto, a board game designed for high schools and social workers focusing on the difficulty of life in poorer areas. Following the association's success Tady a Ted are now working on a videogame version with the hopes of reaching an even broader audience.

This week, the Agriculture Ministry, Food Chamber, and food quality control bodies are holding various seminars and conferences for the general public. What have been titled "Food Safety Days" will run until Sunday and their main aim is to educate consumers about the country's food quality monitoring system and about their rights.

Czech TV viewers are in for something of a comedy treat this evening as the cult British TV show The Office makes its debut on Czech Television. The programme - a mock documentary set in an office in Slough, England - has won a string of international awards and has been shown in dozens of countries around the world. But only now, six years after it first appeared on the BBC, is the programme - called "Kancl" in Czech - being shown here.

This time two weeks US President George Bush will be here in Prague to attend a conference on democracy and security. The American leader will also discuss the planned building of a US radar base in central Bohemia with senior Czech politicians, during a visit that is expected to last a day and a half. A number of anti-Bush protests have already been announced, and we can expect the kind of security operation rarely seen in the Czech capital.