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In 2007, the Czech Republic was condemned by the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg for the way its education system treated the country’s Romany minority. The court found that Roma children were frequently discriminated against and sent to schools for the disabled, when they did not show signs of learning difficulties. On International Roma Day this Wednesday, the Czech Education Ministry released the results of two studies it commissioned to determine how Roma children are faring in the country’s schools now. I spoke to Education Minister

Czech football is at one of its lowest ebbs in years. As well as doing poorly on the field, the national team has been embroiled in scandal off it, with reports that players went out partying after losing to Slovakia in Prague last week. Now the coach has been sacked, the captain has retired and six players have been expelled from the national squad.

Giant hogweed, the grey squirrel and Argentine Ant have one thing in common: they are all invasive species which have been introduced deliberately or by chance into Europe and are now creating havoc with the local environment. A leading Czech botanist is now in the forefront of the first calls of their kind for Europe-wide action to fight the ever more rapid spread of invasive species, blamed on climate change and increasing long distance travel and transport.

The Czech Republic will not accept any former inmates from the Guantanamo Bay military prison camp, Interior Minister Ivan Langer said on Monday in response to a US appeal for EU member states to do so. Mr Langer said that the Czech Republic was not currently equipped to take in any of the camp’s former detainees but that, as the current head of the European Union, it would try to negotiate a common European solution to the problem. Earlier today, I spoke to Markéta Matlochová from the Czech Interior Ministry, who said that the matter was under

It was all looking so hopeful on Monday – a caretaker government approved by four parties to take the country until early elections. A week is a long time in politics, but in this country a lot can happen even in 24 hours, because one of those four parties has backed out of the deal and another is wavering. So what does this mean, not just for this country but beyond?

Sally Hawkins received a best actress award at the Golden Globes for her portrayal of a relentlessly positive school teacher in the British film Happy-Go-Lucky. Mike Leigh was nominated for an Oscar for the movie’s screenplay, which is somewhat ironic as his films don’t have scripts as such: the director of Naked and Secrets and Lies sets out a basic premise, which the actors develop through improvisation in rehearsals. At its Czech premiere at the weekend I spoke to Mike Leigh about Happy-Go-Lucky, and his unusual approach to filmmaking.

US President Barack Obama told thousands of cheering fans on Sunday that he was proud to be the man who had brought Michelle Obama to Prague. While her husband spent the day in talks with EU leaders, Mrs Obama went on a tour of one of the city’s most famous historic monuments – the old Jewish ghetto. Her guide was Michaela Sidenberg, of the Jewish Museum in Prague, who says the First Lady had a special petition to make.

Not surprisingly, US President Barack Obama’s visit to Prague eclipsed all other news in the Czech Republic at the weekend. At the centre of everyone’s attention: the US president’s address on Hradčany Square. In his speech he outlined his vision of a world without nuclear weapons. How good a speech was it and how significant was it for Czechs? Those were questions Radio Prague put to political analyst Jiří Pehe.

Less than two weeks after the Czech government lost a no-confidence vote, the three parties in the outgoing coalition and the opposition Social Democrats announced on Sunday evening that they had reached agreement on a new interim prime minister to lead the country until early elections. His name is Jan Fischer, and if you’ve never heard of him, don’t worry, the vast majority of Czechs haven’t either.

EU leaders met with US President Barack Obama at an informal summit of the European Union and the United States in Prague on Sunday. The meeting, organized by the Czech EU presidency on the second day of President Obama’s visit to the Czech capital, followed up on issues discussed earlier this week at the G20 in London and the NATO summit in Strasbourg.