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Recent days have seen a series of allegations of collaboration with the communist-era secret police. Less than 24 hours after the head of the Czech branch of Interpol was fired over his involvement with the StB, claims emerged that Jaromir Nohavica, one of the country's best loved singers, was an informer. Now - in the most serious case to date - former prime minister Josef Tosovsky has been accused of collaborating with the secret police.

Echoes of the cold war: that is how some observers characterised Russian President Vladimir Putin recent reaction to US plans to expand its missile defence system in Europe. At a conference in Munich Mr Putin attacked the idea of the missile defence system (which includes a proposed interceptor rocket base in Poland and a radar base in the Czech Republic), saying such a move could not go unanswered. But what kind of answer might we see?

In January 2008, to be in accordance with an EU directive on taxation on energies, the Czech government will implement the first of two phases of an environmental tax reform plan. The use of environmentally damaging forms of energy will be taxed in an effort to make individuals and companies more eco-friendly. Next year, coal prices will rise by an estimated ten percent. But with a significant number of Czechs - especially pensioners - using coal in their households, what are the economic and environmental implications of this move? Dita Asiedu

Over 20,000 East Germans escaped to freedom via the West German Embassy in Prague in mid-to-late 1989, as the communist edifice started to crumble after four long decades. Their exodus is now recalled in a new exhibition entitled "Cesta za svobodou" or "Journey to Freedom" at Prague's Police Museum.

Austrian police this week busted a huge international pornography network involving more than 2,360 suspects from 77 countries. Sixty-three Czechs were among those who downloaded child-porn from paid-web sites but shockingly enough the Austrians can expect little cooperation from the Czech police. The Czech Republic is one of the few countries in Europe where it is not a criminal offence to download or possess child pornography which means that the suspects will get off scot-free.

In 2008 Zdenek Macal will cease to be the Czech Philharmonic's Chief Conductor. For the first time in its history the orchestra will not assign this position to anyone else, as it has decided to keep looking for an ideal candidate. As a result, the incoming Principal Guest Conductor, Manfred Honeck will play a more important role than normal in terms of leaving his mark on the ensemble and influencing its sound.

For four years now, the Prague Daily Monitor has been gathering news in English about the Czech Republic on one useful website. It groups stories thematically, with headlines followed by links to a variety of sources, such as the Czech Press Agency and Radio Prague. But since Thursday the Prague Daily Monitor has a new form, including original content for the first time. I spoke to its publisher Bryn Perkins and asked him: what exactly is new?

Concertino Praga - Czech Radio's prestigious international competition for young musicians - has just announced the winners of this year's contest. Ever since this special event for up and coming musicians was established 41 years ago, it has become a conveyer belt for young talent in the world of classical music.

Specialists have revealed that there was a sharp rise in the incidence in tick-borne encephalitis, or TBE, in the Czech Republic last year. Some 1000 people contracted the potentially deadly disease which is transmitted by deer ticks: 60 percent more than in 2005. Earlier Jan Velinger spoke to Roman Prymula, the dean of the Military Medical Academy at the University of Defence in Hradec Kralove, and asked him about the reasons behind the sudden jump.

A year ago we reported on a Czech expedition exploring the world's largest salt cave in Iran. As a matter of fact, Czech explorers have also been to the deepest cave in the world. Two speleologists from the city of Brno have just returned from Abkhazia where an international expedition increased the penetrated depth to 2,170 metres, firmly establishing the Krubera-Voronya as the deepest cave on earth.