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The past weekend saw the establishment of yet another political entity on the Czech scene- the Citizens’ Rights Party founded by supporters of the former prime minister Miloš Zeman who is set to come out of retirement. It comes hard on the heels of two other newcomers in 2009– an alternative Green party calling itself the Democratic Green Party and TOPO9 established by the former Christian Democrat finance minister Miroslav Kalousek. All three promise disgruntled Czech voters a brighter future but offer few new faces. Do these parties really provide

Václav Havel, who led Czechoslovakia’s Velvet Revolution, discussed events at that time and developments since on Thursday, at his only public appearance ahead of the revolution’s 20th anniversary. The former president told reporters from around the world that 20 years ago no one knew when change was going to come, but people did sense that “something was in the air”.

Anyone even mildly familiar with the Czech art scene will have heard of David Černý, the 41 year-old artist who made international headlines earlier this year with Entropa – a controversial artwork that parodied national stereotypes within the EU. After disappearing from the public eye for some time, Černý is back – promising a new work that seems just as likely to cause a stir.

One of the biggest events in Prague after the fall of communism was a now-legendary concert by the Rolling Stones at Strahov Stadium in 1990. They were received afterwards at Prague Castle by President Václav Havel, who became quite friendly with the band. Now 20 years later, the Rolling Stones leader Mick Jagger is coming back to the city – he’s one of a number of famous artists playing at a special concert organised by Mr Havel. Another big event marking the anniversary of the Velvet Revolution will be a recreation of the student demonstration

Czech President Václav Klaus has just returned from an official trip to Moscow where he held talks with the Russian leader Dmitry Medvedev. High on the agenda was energy, with Mr Klaus welcoming the possibility of Russian companies taking part in major power projects in the Czech Republic. While he has become something of a bête noire for the European Union, the Czech president has friendly relations with the Kremlin. Why is Mr Klaus so pro-Russian? That question was put to Jiří Schneider of the Prague Security Studies Institute.

So it’s official, the Czech Republic’s footballers will not be going to next year’s World Cup in South Africa. With Slovenia, as expected, beating San Marino, the result of the Czechs’ final qualifier against Northern Ireland in Prague on Wednesday night became irrelevant. In any case, a poor game ended 0:0. It was the last match in charge for coach Ivan Hašek and the last appearance for left back Marek Jankulovski, who retires with 78 caps. Given the fact their group looked relatively easy, where did it all go wrong for the Czech Republic? That’s

The Czech Ministry of Industry has just made public its plans for the country’s energy policy over the next four decades. They include more nuclear power, the breaching of environmental barriers to mining brown coal, and expansion of uranium mining. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the plans have provoked howls of protests from environmental groups.

This Wednesday is reporter Rosie Johnston’s last day here at Radio Prague. Why? Because Rosie is heading to the United States, to undertake a new national project, interviewing Czechs and Slovaks who emigrated to America under communism. Rosie joins us now in the studio with more details about the project:

Karel Prager is regarded as one of the most important, and most controversial, Czech architects of the second half of the 20th century. Perhaps his best known work is the former Federal Assembly in the centre of Prague, a building many of the city’s residents would consider something of an eye-sore. It was the venue for an unconventional artistic performance on Tuesday night – dedicated to Prager himself.

The 19th century Polish composer Fryderyk Chopin is especially important to two particular countries: his father’s homeland of France, where he lived and died, and Poland, where he was born and raised. It is the Czech Republic though that is first to display an item of great importance to Chopin devotees and Poles in general: as a prelude to 2010 as the Year of Chopin, his funeral mask has come to Prague, where it will be on display for the first time outside of Poland.