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The First of November was a state holiday in Slovakia. People went to cemeteries to light a candle and say a prayer for their loved ones who past away. In that solemn atmosphere many Slovaks didn't think that the day could have any other significance. But on that very same day began the most important stage of pension system reform. From November 1 until June 2006 all citizens younger than 52 will be allowed to choose to deposit up to nine percent of their monthly income in a private pension fund.

Hungarians this week commemorated the anniversary of November 4th 1956 when Soviet tanks crushed the short-lived Hungarian revolution. Awards named after the martyred prime minister Imre Nagy are given out on this day -and this year one of the proud recipients was 83 year old Bela Kiraly. Kiraly played a key role in the 56 revolution and then as a military historian - wrote several books during his long exile in the United States. We asked him to recall those days and how he met Imre Nagy during the revolution:

This week, Hungary ordered food retailers to withdraw all products containing paprika from their shelves. The measure was taken when checks found some of the red spice stored in warehouses contained high levels of a toxic substance found only in the tropics - suggesting that producers illegally mixed imported and local products. The health minister says it is unlikely any of the tainted Paprika has made it to supermarket shelves and that the toxin would only have an adverse effect if large quantities of tainted Paprika were eaten.

About 14 years ago, right across Central Europe, communism was relegated to the history books and museums. Now people are beginning to look at how those books and museums present the communist era. Germany is holding an international congress on the topic and in Slovenia Dr. Bozo Repe - a professor of modern history has become an expert on how Slovenian's remember the period:

Czechs have been disturbed recently by reports the country's police force listen in on an incredibly high number of personal phone calls - up to 10,000 a year. What's more the Czech Republic's police chief has dismayed many by seeming to suggest widespread bugging was normal practice, and nothing to concern people with a clear conscience. Radio Prague's Ian Willoughby has been following the story.

Picture this situation. You are in a hurry to leave town for a business trip. You arrive at the train station just in time to buy a ticket. You could still make it if ... if you were not in a wheelchair and didn't have to book a ticket three weeks ahead, as is still the case in Slovakia.

For the first time since WWII the Lower Silesian Opera has launched an enormous project - the staging of Richard Wagner's monumental operatic work, the Ring Cycle. The production is not at the opera's usual home but in the Hundred Year Hall - the Hala Ludowa. We went to Wroclaw to find out more about this super-production of Die Walkure.

Earlier this week, Poland marked the 20th anniversary of the murder of pro-Solidarity priest Father Jerzy Popieluszko. The Polish Parliament unanimously adopted a motion honouring his memory, saying that he had 'courageously defended the ideals of truth, freedom and justice. The resolution added that 'his death was one of the last acts of the state terror aimed at its own citizens in the long chain of post-war history'.

Budapest's famous zoo will soon see the birth of the world's first white rhino baby from an artificially inseminated mother. Yes after many attempts the Zoo's only female white rhino, Lulu, is finally pregnant - good news since rhinos belong to a highly endangered species. Endre Soós is the chief veterinarian at the Budapest Zoo:

The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) has released the results of a survey conducted in June to test the effects pollution has on our health. Fourteen EU Environment Ministers agreed to give blood samples to determine how many and what kind of man-made chemicals are in their bodies. For the Czech and Slovak ministers, the results were shocking.