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Strolling through Christmas markets around the Czech Republic, you can find various Czech traditional sweets. Gingerbread men are probably the most typical ones but more and more often one can come across what's known as Stramberske usi or "Stramberk ears" - cone-shaped gingerbread cookies with a bloodstained history.

The small mostly Catholic country of Slovenia is also enjoying a feat of Christmas festivities but with a lot of variation on the theme. Michael Manske of Radio Slovenia International takes a look at the traditions of Slovenia's Christmas.

Polish dentists are taking Sweden by storm. The first private dental clinic employing specialists from Poland has opened in Stockholm to the applause of patients and some mixed reactions from Swedish dentists annoyed by the emergence of cheap competition. Krystyna Kolosowska reports from the City Dental clinic in Stockholm.

Companies in Slovakia have the possibility to give away 2% of their taxes to one or more NGOs as a gesture of their social commitment. Building relationships and taking responsibility for employees and the community is the definition of the forum "Corporate Social Responsibility". The forum brings together responsible organisations and motivates others to do make similar commitments, for example to the environment or to their employees. Katarina Richterova reports:

The big story in the Czech Republic this week is the arrest of Swedish-Lebanese terror suspect described by the U.S. authorities as "Osama bin Laden's man in Sweden". For a brief moment the arrest in Prague of 39-year-old Oussamma Kassir - wanted in the U.S. on suspicion of trying to set up an al-Qaeda training camp - brought the so-called war on terror into sharp focus.

One of the busiest places in Budapest is a glass dome called "Santa Claus Factory" set up right next to Heroes' Square and the City Park. Of course, it does not produce Santa Clauses but rather serves as a place of collection for donations to be forwarded to those less fortunate in society. The project is organised by the Hungarian Red Cross as part of its Christmas charity programme. For the details, Sandor Laczko of Radio Budapest talked to Judit Forizs from the international department of the Hungarian Red Cross:

Carmina Slovenica, a female youth choir from the Slovenian town of Maribor is one of the most internationally renowned vocal ensembles. It creates contemporary music projects and has introduced a new concept - the vocal theatre, which incorporates music, drama, movement and other stage elements.

Ahead of Friday's summit in Brussels the EU found itself struggling to find agreement on a new budget. But what is this budget? Well, it's almost a thousand billion euros to be spent in the five year period from 2007 to 2013.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was in Europe this week on a visit dominated by the debate over the United States' treatment of terror suspects and the possibility of secret CIA detention centres in Central and Eastern Europe.

Now to the east of the Czech Republic for a major re-enactment of the Battle of Austerlitz, which was fought on December 2nd 1805 and is remembered as Napoleon Bonaparte's greatest military victory. The 200th anniversary re-enactment took seven years to prepare and attracted thousands of visitors from around the world. Radio Prague's Ian Willoughby reports.