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Czech scientists and their Australian colleagues recently made a unique discovery which should contribute to the development of medication against malaria, making it easier to produce, safer and cheaper. The results of their study were recently published in the prestigious Nature magazine. Ruth Fraňková spoke to a member of the Czech team, Jan Janouškovec, to find out what kind of progress has been made.

President Václav Klaus was inaugurated for a second five-year term at Prague Castle on Friday morning, in a ceremony that included the national anthem and a 21-gun salute. Mr Klaus will serve in the largely symbolic post until 2013, and observers expect little change in the style or the substance of his presidency.

A new indy rock band called Airfare has been making headlines in the Czech Republic in the weeks following the release of the group’s first album, Hotel Moscow. The catchy first single off the CD “Sorry Baby” has made its way up the charts and has attracted the attention of many new listeners. Led by Czech-American frontman Thomas Lichtag, the band is clearly making an impact.

The leader of the Social Democrats, Jiří Paroubek, issued a stern warning to his 71 MPs on Wednesday – vote in favour of the plan to allow a U.S. radar base on Czech territory, and you could find yourself off the list of candidates when the next election comes around. A vote on the issue is not due for several months, but Czech supporters and opponents of missile defence are already marshalling their forces for what looks to be a tough battle.

Prague Castle or Charles Bridge are not the only things you would find on the Czech Republic’s list of cultural and historical heritage. “Červinka” – a unique reddish breed of Czech cattle – has also been included. Today there are approximately one hundred of these cows left in the country, but not a single breeding bull. Experts are now trying to find ways how to save it from extinction. I spoke to Věra Mátlová of the Institute of Animal Science. I first asked her to say a few words about this particular breed:

Until now no Czech cross-country skier had ever clinched the World Cup title, not even the great Kateřina Neumannová who won gold in the Turin Olympics. That has now changed: on Wednesday it became clear that this year Czech skier Lukáš Bauer will be crowned king, after his closest rival in the standings pulled out of competition. Now, no one can overtake him.

The 10th Jeden Svět (One World) festival of human rights documentary films begins in Prague on Wednesday night. The focus of the 2008 festival is on dictatorships, while other highlights will include rare Czechoslovak documentaries from the 1960s hidden away for decades. And this year’s One World is – for the first time – also set to visit a number of world cities.

Libor Šmíd, an amateur astronomer in Plzeň, western Bohemia, took some unique photos of the U.S. space shuttle Atlantis approaching the International Space Station in February. Taken within just four minutes of the Atlantis flyover of the Plzeň area, the pictures won the Photo of the Month contest of the Czech Astronomical Society.

Thirty years ago Vladimír Remek became the first man in space who was not from either the United States or the Soviet Union. Remek became a hero not in only in his native Czechoslovakia but throughout the Eastern Bloc after taking part in an eight-day Soviet space mission in March 1978. The former cosmonaut spoke to me about his memories of that historic flight – and the propaganda which accompanied it

Software developers are teaming up in the Czech Republic to clamp down on the piracy of their products. Recent statistics show that nearly 40% of all programs on Czech computers are not the official, authorized versions. Now, those who sell unauthorized versions of programs such as Word and Photoshop can expect to be shown ‘less leniency’ by the software’s creators. Microsoft is one of the firms leading the anti-piracy drive. I asked Markéta Mead from the company’s licensing department how big a problem software piracy currently is in this