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In recent years medical tourism has become a real growth industry, with many travelling to former communist bloc states to take advantage of relatively affordable health care. The latest example of this is western Europeans getting treatment in the Czech Republic – for obesity.

The Czech Republic is still abuzz with allegations that Czech-born writer Milan Kundera informed on a suspected spy in 1950, and on Monday an unlikely ally came to Mr Kundera’s defence: former president Václav Havel. The two men famously clashed over the role played by dissidents in communist Czechoslovakia – Mr Havel accused the émigré writer of being cynical - but Mr Havel has now defended Mr Kundera and criticised his detractors.

Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek told German leader Angela Merkel during her visit to Prague on Monday that the Czech Republic could ratify the Lisbon treaty by the end of the year: before the beginning of the country’s EU presidency. But the odds are now against Mr Topolánek, for whom the Lisbon treaty is just one of many battles.

After two years in power, dissenting voices in the Civic Democratic Party are growing, and Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek could now face his greatest political battle. The prime minister is trying to weather the storm after his party was defeated across the board in regional elections last weekend. Rivals the Social Democrats trounced the right-of-centre party; previously the Civic Democrats held 12 out of 13 regional assemblies – now the Social Democrats control them all. The Civic Democrats are also at risk of losing a majority in the Senate

Czech teachers have long called for an increase in salaries. They claim that not only are they underpaid but that their job gets more demanding with each passing year, as their pupils grow more unruly and aggressive both in and outside the classroom. According to the Association of Primary School Teachers, nearly 90 percent of teachers now complain that children are increasingly difficult to manage. Dr. Petra Vrtbovská from the Prague Institute for Foster Care says that the primary blame for this unrestrained behaviour often lies with the

The opposition Social Democrats dealt Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek’s centre-right government a severe blow in the weekend’s regional and Senate elections. The main opposition party won hands down in all 13 regions and secured a strong lead in the first round of the Senate elections, threatening to tip the balance of power in the upper chamber ahead of key votes on the Lisbon treaty, the US radar and social reform. With the government’s fragile majority in the lower house and a no-confidence vote in the cabinet due on Wednesday, there is speculation that

Regular listeners to Radio Prague may remember us reporting on Bohemians 1905, the venerable football club that would have gone bust had it not been for its loyal fans who held a collection to save their beloved "Kangaroos", as the team has been known since they went on a famous tour of Australia in the 1920s. Now, a new documentary has been released which celebrates the quirky life of some of these dedicated Bohemians fans.

If you go down to the woods today, you’re sure of a big surprise… A walk around Prague’s scenic Císařský Ostrov will lead you to a gigantic replica Trojan horse, made and inhabited by Czech sculptor Ivan Nacvalač. The horse is home to a gallery, and since it opened in July, the site has played host to a number of impromptu concerts, and a summer full of barbecues open to all. I paid it a visit and asked Mr Nacvalač how it came about:

Prague witnessed its biggest fire since 1974 on Thursday evening when the art deco Industrial Palace at the 19th century Výstaviště Exhibition Grounds burst into flames. Firemen were still dampening the burning embers on Friday morning, and won’t be able to properly examine the wreckage of the building until Sunday. An investigation into what caused the fire is still ongoing, and all sorts of conspiracy theories are flying around.

Allegations that the Czech writer Milan Kundera informed on a suspected western agent in 1950 have dominated the news all this week, and on Wednesday there was a new twist: an 81-year-old literary translator named Zdeňek Pešat came forward to say it was not Milan Kundera who had gone to the police, but their mutual friend Miroslav Dlask. Earlier this week Milan Kundera broke a 25-year vow of silence to categorically reject the “informer” claims.