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The African community in the Czech Republic today amounts to about 3,000 people. It has been shrinking since the fall of the communist regime when many scholarships were offered to students from African countries. Even today the community consists mainly of former students who have settled down here. Now the Czech Republic's joining the EU has brought new changes and not just for the better, according to Kofi A Nkrumah from the organisation Humanitas Afrika in Prague. He spoke to Jarka Halkova, at an forum in Prague in celebration of the Czech

As the fifteenth anniversary of the Velvet Revolution fast approaches, many people in the Czech Republic have been taking stock of the vast changes since then. Take the nation's health: Czechs aren't growing any taller but men seem to be putting on weight. More diseases are being diagnosed but are also being treated more efficiently. That's what statistical data tell us about Czech population 15 years after the fall of communism.

The National Library in Prague is currently exhibiting a fascinating and rare collection of Hebrew manuscripts, part of a larger collection the Nazis stole from a Jewish Seminary in the Polish city of Wroclaw in 1938. Now, under an international agreement, it is about to be returned to Poland.

Twenty years ago Jiri Brokes completed his compulsory military service in the Czechoslovak army. Now Jaroslava Brokesova is trying in vain to join the armed forces. What's the connection? Well, Jaroslava and Jiri are one and the same person. Last year Jiri Brokes, father of two teenage children, underwent a sex change. He recently received documents confirming that he is now officially a woman. But that's not enough for the Czech army, who say that they do not want him and are not even allowed to take on transsexuals. David Vaughan reports.

A new art exhibit opened at the Skolska Communication Space in Prague last week. The subject of the artist's work holds a special place in Czech hearts. Kate Barrette finds out more about the exhibit called Houbicky, or "Little Mushrooms".

Yasser Arafat was for some the symbol of Palestinian nationalism, for others a terrorist. If one thing is certain, it's that his death heralds an unclear future for the peace process in the Middle East, with all sides asking who will fill Arafat's shoes.

Czech politicians have been competing for attention in an exchange of bitter insults. But should they be trying harder to mind their language? Kate Barrette has more on this dip into dirty words among Czech politicians.

With one of the lowest birth rates in the world, the Czech population is aging. Government measures aimed at making family life more attractive are not proving as effective as hoped and many experts warn that the decision by many people to put off starting a family or not to have children at all, could lead to major social and economic problems. But how much of a role does infertility play in this development?

Regional and Senate elections in the Czech Republic last week were an example of the democratic process at work, exactly 15 years after the fall of communism. Among those observing the elections were a group of a dozen or so Iraqi politicians invited to the Czech Republic ahead of their country's own elections in January. How did the Iraqis view the elections here, and could the Czech Republic provide a role model?

Fifteen years after the fall of communism, the Social Democrat leader and Prime Minister Stanislav Gross has shocked many Czechs by telling them to vote for Communist candidates in the second round of elections to the upper house of the Czech parliament, the Senate, this weekend. Following a poor showing by the Social Democrats, in many constituencies right-of-centre Civic Democratic candidates will be facing off against communists in the second round. Mr. Gross said his party's aim was to prevent the right-wing opposition Civic Democrats winning