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After years of discussion, planning and extensive renovation work, New York’s Bohemian National Hall finally reopened on Thursday evening in a lavish gala event. The imposing five-storey building on Manhattan’s Upper East Side first opened in 1896, but closed in 1986, and was left unused for many years. Now it’s ready once again to serve as the centre of Czech cultural and social life in the Big Apple. Radio Prague’s director Miroslav Krupička was at the opening.

Wine lovers from countries such as France, Spain or Italy might often turn up their noses at wine that is made in Moravia and Bohemia. But each year, there comes a time when Czechs enjoy something unknown to those wine-producing powers – the fresh, fruity and fizzy young wine known as burčák. Jan Richter reports from South Moravia, the wine capital of the Czech Republic.

On Wednesday evening, the lower house of the Czech parliament formally ratified a law which means that the country now recognizes the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court. The move comes after years of delays on the matter and means that the Czech Republic now joins other EU states in being subject to the power of the court to preside over matters of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Barely a day goes by without new speculation over Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek’s political future, threatened by his party’s dismal failure in mid-term elections. This month the right-of-centre Civic Democrats were trounced by the rival Social Democratic party in 13 regions, as well as in Senate elections, leading many to see Mr Topolánek’s days as head of the Civic Democrats as numbered. But who might replace him at the party’s congress in December and will he go without a fight?

This October 28 marked 90 years since the founding of Czechoslovakia as an independent state. According to tradition, on the day the Czech president always addresses the country before bestowing state honours for outstanding individual service. Jan Velinger has more on the president’s speech and Tuesday’s ceremony at Prague Castle’s Vladislav Hall.

Czech designer Jan Čtvrtník has been receiving a great deal of recognition around the continent recently for one of his nifty pieces of glassware, highlighting the issue of climate-change. Čtvrtník’s vase - depicting a shrinking lake - won an international competition in Amsterdam in September, and has now been lauded by British newspaper The Independent for its environmentally-aware design. I spoke to Jan Čtvrtník, who’s currently living and working in Italy, and asked him first about the inspiration behind his award-winning piece:

Prague witnessed its first major military parade since 1985 on Tuesday, to mark the 90th anniversary of the creation of Czechoslovakia in 1918. Czechoslovakia weathered many storms before finally splitting into two countries in 1993, but the anniversary is still celebrated here in the Czech Republic, although not in Slovakia. The idea to hold a large-scale military parade attracted criticism in some quarters, but seems to have been positively received by the public.

Three major Czech institutions have joined together to launch a unique website called Paměť národa or Memory of the Nation. It will give the public and scholars access to an archive of personal memories of 20th century history, including the horrors of the Holocaust and communist persecution. The materials are gathered by individuals, non-profit organisations and other institutions across Europe and they are accessible to the general public.

This Tuesday marks 90 years since the foundation of the independent Czechoslovak state. To celebrate this important anniversary, the National Museum, together with the Military History Institute in Prague and the Czech Senate, has put together a major new exhibition entitled Republika or The Republic, dedicated to the first twenty years of the new state.

On November 17, Czech citizens will be able to travel to the United States without visas for the first time ever. Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek and US Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff announced in Prague on Monday that the Czech Republic, along with several other central and eastern European countries, has been included in the US Visa Waiver Program.