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Czechs singers and musicians are playing their part in the campaign to raise cash for earthquake-hit Haiti. Two concerts are being staged in the capital on Thursday, with participants performing for free. Celebrities also lined up for other events.

The assassination in May 1942 of the Nazi governor of Bohemia and Moravia, Reinhard Heydrich, was one of the most dramatic events of World War II. The Czechoslovak resistance fighters parachuted into Prague to carry out the attack later met their own deaths in a church in the city, after being surrounded by Nazi troops. Their brave actions are the focus of an exhibition in the church’s crypt which has now been given a major facelift.

Finland made international headlines recently with news that its government plans to completely eradicate smoking – not just a ban on smoking in public places, that already exists, but the total and final eradication of smoking amongst the Finnish population. It’s a lofty goal to be sure, and has reignited the smoking debate in other European countries, many of which have banned smoking in cafes, pubs and restaurants. The Czech Republic, however, like most former communist states, seems to be trailing behind.

The heaviest snowfalls to hit Prague in thirty years have been making the life of Prague residents difficult, and sometimes even dangerous. Currently, people’s biggest concern is that pieces of snow and ice are melting and falling off roofs around the city, causing serious damage and injuries.

The city of Brno has made up its mind on a contentious issue: the hammer and sickle on a public monument to fallen Red Army soldiers from the Second World War is coming down. In a unanimous vote on Tuesday, the city council decided to end two years of protests and vandalism by removing the still-controversial symbol for good.

Wednesday night will see the opening of the fifth Prague Festival of Short Films. The event will be held at Prague’s Světozor cinema and over the next four days it will offer the best of last year’s short film production from all over the world. The Prague Festival of Short Films was established five years ago by the producers of the international film festival in Karlovy Vary. I spoke to Radka Weiserová, one of the festival’s organizers, about its history and highlights:

The international aid effort is gathering pace for the victims of the Haitian earthquake, and the Czech Republic is no exception; the government has earmarked over one million dollars and private collections launched by the country’s NGOs have also raised substantial amounts. But there’s been criticism too, with some NGOs expressing frustration at being unable to help.

New data comparing poverty rates across the European Union puts the Czech Republic’s poverty rate at the very bottom of the statistic. Only nine percent of Czechs live at or below the poverty threshold, compared to the European average of 17 percent. But across the European Union, children are most at risk of living in poverty.

The Czech government on Monday passed a new directive raising tolls for trucks by half of the current rate on Friday afternoons, in an attempt to curb heavy traffic on highways into the weekend. The move is not as tough as a previous year-long Friday ban sought by the former government, but one that is acceptable to truckers themselves.

Headlines around the world have been made by a small Pacific island state’s challenge to plans for a large Czech coal-fired power plant. But Czech environmental groups are also opposing the plant on the grounds that local people will continue to suffer from harmful pollution far into the future.