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The concept of turning popular children's stories into musicals is becoming an ever more popular trend in the Czech Republic. The latest addition to the musical scene is based on Hans Christen Anderson's fairy tale "The Snow Queen", an English-language premiere of which will open November 11th. reports:

On Thursday last week, Austrian anti-nuclear activists recommenced their blockades of border crossings on the Czech-Austrian border in protest over the Temelin nuclear power plant in South Bohemia. As of Sunday afternoon all fifteen border crossings between the two countries were completely impassable. The demonstrators claim that Temelin was put on line without the completion of proper safety checks, and want it shut down for at least six months in order for these checks to be carried out. According to members of the Austrian initiative Stop Temelin,

Following a Czech-Greek initiative to resolve the Kosovo crisis last year, the Czech Republic and Greece have once again agreed to join forces. Their goal this time is to increase commercial trade in the Balkans, in particular in Yugoslavia, and in this way help revive the region's economy. More from :

Austrian anti-nuclear activists have renewed their blockades of Czech-Austrian border crossings, despite top-level official negotiations. Their aim is to stop the Temelin nuclear power station in southern Bohemia, and this time they say they will keep going until they succeed. has the story:

On Tuesday, Czech Prime Minister Milos Zeman and several members of his Cabinet paid an official visit to the Slovak capital, Bratislava, to hold talks with their counterparts. These talks highlighted the fact that relations between the neighboring states are currently riding high. takes a look at the latest developments in Czech-Slovak relations:

A presentation on the elimination of racism, xenophobia and youth crime was held on Thursday for more than a hundred Prague teenagers. After a short film, special guests, including the United Nations Human Rights Commissioner on former Yugoslavia, Jiri Dienstbier, and the Israeli ambassador to Prague, Erella Hadar, addressed questions on these problems from the audience. was there and brings back this report:

Earlier this week, Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schussel and Czech Prime Minister Milos Zeman met to try reach an agreement over the controversial Temelin nuclear power plant in South Bohemia. The two government leaders failed to fully resolve the issue, but they did agree to disagree and continue discussions. Chancellor Schussel failed in his attempt to get Prime Minister Zeman to halt the activation of Temelin for six months, until an environmental impact study was complete and safety issues had been addressed. This failure led Austrian protesters to resume their blockade of Czech-Austrian border crossings as of Thursday morning. spoke to Jan Haverkamp, the spokesman for Greenpeace in the Czech Republic, and asked him first for his reaction to the results of the meeting:

After a controversial decision to privatize the Czech Republic's main electricity producer together with all of the regional distribution companies in one package, the Czech government has decided to apply the same principle to the privatization of the monopoly gas importer and regional distributors. According to analysts, however, both decisions will prevent competition on the Czech market in these sectors. reports:

During the day they are respectable-looking soldiers, but at night they are nothing more than a floor cloth. This is the kind of treatment that apparently awaits newcomers to the elite Prague Castle guard unit. As reports, bullying is rife within the ranks of the Czech armed forces: