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As the Czech tourist industry grows more successful by the year, the air transport business is likewise becoming all the more lucrative. Low-cost airlines are now operating from Prague International Airport in increasing numbers, and with this rise in popularity comes the inevitable competition for customers, with companies drastically reducing air ticket prices in an attempt to entice clients to their airlines. Chris Jarrett takes a closer look at Prague's airfare battle.

Financial incompetence has been a perennial theme in the Czech Republic in the 16 years since the fall of Communism. The latest news - splashed over the front pages this morning - suggests that little has changed. According to new statistics released by the European Commission, the Czech Republic has little idea how to access the billions of euros allocated to the country by the EU.

March 7th is Tomas Garrigue Masaryk Day in the Czech Republic. It's a day which marks the birthday of Czechoslovakia's first president, and gives many a chance to remember his role in this country's history.

The Cold War held the political world on edge until its end in 1991, when the Soviet Union fell. This significant rift in international relations overshadowed world politics for over 45 years. Now, 60 years have passed since Winston Churchill delivered his famous "Iron Curtain" speech, which is widely regarded as the beginning of the Cold War. Chris Jarrett takes a look at the impact of the Iron Curtain on Czechoslovak borders.

General elections are less than three months away and the current state of voter preferences indicates that neither the ruling Social Democrats nor the opposition Civic Democrats may be in a position to form a majority government. Yet, the very idea of a grand coalition remains taboo. The suggestion that the Civic and Social Democrats could enter into a grand coalition in order to change the electoral system from proportional to majority - made by MEP Jan Zahradil last week - sparked heated denials from both parties.

The Czech Republic's art and antique auction houses certainly have a season to look forward to if this year's opening auction at the Dorotheum auction house in Prague is anything to go by. Three records were broken on Saturday. Items valued at 14 million crowns (a little over half a million US dollars) were sold for 22 million (around 900,000 US dollars), the best turnover that the country's established houses have ever witnessed.

Among the sweeping changes of the last 15 years in the Czech Republic, the diet of Czechs has also undergone a transformation. Though mostly this has been a shift away from traditional Czech foods, lately, game has been making a comeback as a popular dish. This can be best illustrated by the exploding numbers of game farms.

Czech demographers have been saying it for years and now it has been confirmed by the EU as well: Czechs are dying out. A population forecast released this week by the EU statistics office Eurostat predicts that by the year 2050 the number of Czechs will drop from 10 million to 8,800,000. Without immigration, the population might plummet to 8.1 million.

Czech efforts to get the EU to take a united stand in condemning Islamic violence in the wake of the controversy over caricatures of the prophet Mohammed have failed to bear fruit - only increasing tension between the Czech Republic and Arab states. Moreover, a number of Arab countries have protested against a documentary on the life of Moslems featured on Czech television, which they say shows Moslems as dangerous radicals.

The death of four-year-old Eric, a Czech boy who was given to adoptive parents in Sweden less than a year ago, has shocked people in both countries. When he died there were signs that he had been neglected and physically abused, and this has called into question the whole practice of overseas adoptions. Could this tragedy have been prevented by the Czech or Swedish authorities? Do applicants from abroad undergo thorough screening before a child's adoption is approved and is there someone who monitors their welfare once they reach their new home?