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Three years ago Prague’s main railway station Hlavní Nádraží was not a nice place to be – poorly-maintained and dirty, it afforded travelers little opportunity of refreshment. A major reconstruction launched in 2006 is radically transforming the premises which now afford modern terminals, sales counters, boutiques and restaurants. Now the company Grandi Stazioni which is conducting the reconstruction has gone a step further – offering weary travelers some art as well.

Traffic police in the Czech Republic have a new year’s resolution, and that is to cut the increasing rate of accidents in the country that are related to driving under the influence of alcohol. With the number of alcohol-related road deaths on the rise from year to year, in 2010 the police are going to introduce the somewhat radical measure of giving a breathalyser test to every driver they stop. Christian Falvey has the story.

On Wednesday a small bank in the district of Prague 4 witnessed drama of a kind rarely seen in the Czech Republic, when an armed robber took two people hostage at gunpoint and demanded millions in crowns, or he would begin shooting. The assailant, who had appeared in the branch a day earlier, communicated his demands through a police negotiator in the stand-off which lasted almost four hours. In the end, he got nothing: only handcuffs and a quick ride to a police cell.

The recent bout of freezing cold weather, with temperatures dropping to minus fifteen degrees at night, has highlighted the plight of the country’s homeless. Shelters are bursting at the seams, and charity organizations are handing out hot soup and tea to help warm those unfortunate enough to have to spend their days – and sometimes nights - on a park bench. Now one restaurant owner has come up with a proposal that might make a difference.

Micronesia and the Czech Republic are twelve thousand kilometers apart but the small Pacific island is concerned that increased emissions from a coal-burning power station in western Bohemia will speed up global warming and increase the threat of Micronesia being swallowed up by the Pacific Ocean.

With Christmas fast approaching, many Czech consumers are tempted to take out loans. Legislation on loan conditions in the Czech Republic is still vague and unlicensed lending companies take advantage of these holes in the constitution, preying on ill-informed consumers. Often, penalties for not paying installments on time are 700 percent of the original installment. David Šmejkal, director of the debt advice center Poradna při finanční tísni helps customers who have fallen prey to the companies who offer these loans.

New Year’s Day will be a real red letter day for many prisoners in the Czech Republic. Under a new criminal code being introduced on January 1 some crimes are being reclassified as misdemeanours – meaning those who are currently in jail on such charges will either be released or have their sentences reduced.

Now, what do champagne, Roquefort cheese and Melton Mowbray pork pies all have in common? Well, you might not want to eat them all at once for one thing, but more importantly they all enjoy “Protected Geographical Status” from the European Union. Meaning that Roquefort cheese must be matured in the natural caves of Roquefort to be sold under the name ‘Roquefort’, and so on. EU countries have fought fierce battles over the coveted ‘protected’ label, and the latest hostilities are brewing between the Czech Republic and Poland…this time over

The Czech caretaker government has moved quickly to shore itself up after being badly shaken last week by a vote in parliament which torpedoed its budget package for 2010. Prime Minister Jan Fischer has acted to put the budget back on its original tracks and clarify his support from the major parties which put him in power.

Nový Prostor, a magazine sold by the homeless, is celebrating ten years of its existence. It was first published in 1999, under the name Patron, and since then it has become well-established in the big cities. Now a bi-monthly, Nový Prostor sells around 15,000 copies each and has around 160 sellers all over the Czech Republic.