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Most of the Czech dailies are now talking about the famous "Operation Olovo", (Operation Lead), a slanderous campaign allegedly prepared by one or more of the prime minister's advisers against the very popular deputy speaker of the lower house of Parliament, Petra Buzkova. It all started when one of the prime minister's advisers, Zdenek Sarapatka, found some material on one of his colleagues' computers and put it into the public domain. reports.

Thirty-two years ago, on the 21st of August, 1968, Soviet tanks rolled into Czechoslovakia, dashing all hope for this country's lone attempt, within the Soviet Bloc and the confines of a bipolar world, to reform communism. A solemn ceremony was held outside the Czech Radio building on Monday to remember the tragedy. was there and is bringing this report.

Anyone who has spent more than a few hours in the Czech Republic knows that the most frequent greeting used among friends is the casual 'ahoj'. The greeting is so typically Czech few Brits realize that it actually comes from their own 'Ship Ahoy!' or 'Land Ahoy!' used by sailors at the start of the century. It first appeared in the Czech language sometime in the 1920s, just a couple of years after the birth of Czechoslovakia, and became so popular that in no time at all everyone was saying it. But the last Czech merchant seamen still sailing the high

Czech families with small children are having serious problems making ends meet. They're one of the poorest groups in Czech society, even worse off than old-age pensioners. Many people are therefore dissuaded from starting a family altogether, and as a result, says , the Czech birth rate continues to decline.

And staying on the high seas, or rather rivers, Prague has a brand new attraction: stand on Prague's Legie Bridge near the National Theatre tonight and you'll see a huge statue of a woman emerging from the river and sinking back again to the accompaniment of music and special light effects. has the details:

The British Cabinet's recommendation that scientists be allowed to use embryo cells in research to grow replacement body parts has met with huge interest among Czech experts. has been following their reactions:

Now, do you believe what you read in the papers? Well, if you do, the Czech Republic's ambassador to London has decided to go back to his old job: window cleaning. Ambassador Pavel Seifter was really a window cleaner during his years as a dissident following the invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968, the only job left open to him by the new hard-line regime. His decision, however, has caused confusion in the British media and a certain degree of nervous tension at the Foreign Ministry here in Prague. For more here's :

The first Czech computer expert received a Green Card on Tuesday to live and work in Germany. It was granted as part of Germany's bid to recruit 20,000 computer specialists from all around the world, to fill a much-needed gap in the German labour market. Computer science is still a very popular course at Czech universities. Every year hundreds of students graduate in IT, and are immediately snapped up by Czech firms. The shortage in Germany gives them even more possibilities. reports:

This week Prague hosts the fifth World Abilympics, in which physically and mentally handicapped people compete in a number of wide-ranging activities, such as knitting, weaving carpets and woodcarving, to name just a few. The 2000 Abilympics opened on Monday at the Vystaviste exhibition grounds and some 800 disabled people from around the world are taking part. went along and spoke with two participants from Australia, Colin Keast and Philip Deschamp. They first told her which activities they'd opted for at this year's event: