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The Czech Republic has been accused by a number of non-governmental human rights watchdogs and education groups of taking no steps to stop discrimination against Romany children in schools, in spite of a landmark European decision that discrimination was built into the country’s education system. They say promises to take action have gone unfulfilled and they are now threatening to bring the country to book again.

The Czech Republic wants to save money on road construction, and China is looking to break through to European construction markets. It seems an ideal match to Transport Minister Vít Bárta, whose ministry is the one hardest hit by budget cuts amid numerous ongoing projects. But Czech construction companies are, needless to say, not enthusiastic. Christian Falvey has more.

Central European heads of state have just finished two days of bilateral and collective talks in the West Bohemian spa town of Karlovy Vary. Discussions of the Visegrad regional grouping seem to have been pretty focused thanks in part to the fact that two of the four countries will be setting the European Union’s agenda next year.

An unusual history project is running in Czech schools throughout November, organised by the NGO People in Need. For the next few weeks, around 700 secondary schools across the country will be showing documentary films about the nation’s communist past, as well as inviting former political prisoners to come and talk to children about their experiences of being persecuted by the state.

Three weeks after local elections, talks about forming governments in many Czech towns and cities are still underway. However, in some of the country’s largest cities, including Prague, grand coalitions of the traditional main right- and left-wing parties appear most likely to emerge. This comes despite many voters’ evident desire for change.

Czech ice hockey has experienced an unprecedented and somewhat strange turn of events this week, with the news that three clubs in the domestic league are to be docked points over a bureaucratic error: the failure to properly register new players before the season began. Critics say the affair makes a laughing stock of Czech hockey, but officials say that rules are rules.

Holding your wedding at a country castle or chateau in the Czech Republic is nothing unusual – a service used by countless couples. But now, even Prague’s National Theatre might be getting into the game. It turns out that couples may soon be able to get married either in a salon at the theatre or even on stage at the historic Estates Theatre. Some, however, have already come out against the idea.

After eight years in office, Prague’s mayor Pavel Bém said goodbye on Thursday, marking the end of an era at City Hall. Mr Bém took the top job in the capital just a few months after the city had been hit by the worst floods in its modern history, and has since managed to stabilise the city’s ailing finances. But his term has also been tainted by allegations of wide-spread corruption.

Czech energy companies are in uproar over government moves to cushion the bill for a solar power boom in the country. Basically, the energy companies are bearing the brunt of frantic government moves to raise cash so that inflated electricity prices are not passed onto households and businesses. The power companies are livid, saying the government has not just moved the goalposts, it has changed the game.

November 3 marks the anniversary of the birth of the great Czech animator Karel Zeman, who died in 1989. Mr Zeman, who directed numerous children’s classics, including The Fabulous World of Jules Verne or Journey to Prehistory. On the occasion of the anniversary, Czech Post has released a new stamp in the director’s memory; he has also been commemorated in his home town.