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It can be tough for independent filmmakers to compete against mainstream Hollywood blockbusters but there are audiences who want more from a movie than entertainment. In Slovenia documentary films are drawing ever increasing crowds, leading to the third Slovenian Documentary film festival.

In Slovakia, plans by Canadian company Tournigan Gold Corporation to open a urananium mine near the Eastern city of Kosice have met with strong opposition from locals. Almost 16,000 people signed a petition requiring the Ministry of Environment not to authorize the project.

Poland's Ministry of Education has announced its intention to introduce a US type 'zero tolerance' approach to fight violent and anti-social behavior in Polish schools. In recent weeks, Polish media extensively reported on several shocking cases in which school children were bullied, humiliated and driven to suicide by their peers.

The north-eastern Hungarian region of Tokaj is the best-known wine-growing area in the country.

A situation similar to that in the Czech Republic has developed in Slovenia where what's been described as "a bit of a scuffle" between Roma and local residents in the small town of Ambrus in central Slovenia has erupted into a dispute of national dimensions. The Slovenian government decided to step in and relocate the Roma community. That's been met with both approval and outrage - and the consequences are still being sorted out.

Since Poland became part of the European Union two years ago, Polish workers have sought employment in the UK in great numbers. Officially three hundred thousand Poles have actually landed jobs there. In reality there could be twice as many. But some Poles have found out that not all British employers play by the rules. The good news for them is that the largest general union in the United Kingdom, GMB, has opened a migrant workers scheme designed to help Polish workers.

The town of Vsetin in eastern Moravia is at the centre of what is becoming a nationwide debate over housing, local politics and race relations. Mayor Jiri Cunek's decision to move several hundred Romany rent-defaulters out of a dilapidated block of flats in the town centre and relocate them, often up to 70 km away, helped him win him a seat in the Senate, but is also causing uproar.

Slovakia has been asked by NATO to move its troops in Afghanistan from Kabul to Kandahar in Southern Afghanistan but the Slovak cabinet is hesitating over concerns about its soldiers' security.

The 28th October is an unlikely date for Czechs to be celebrating their national holiday. After all, it commemorates the founding of a state that no longer exists. Czechoslovakia was established in 1918 with the collapse of the Habsburg monarchy at the end of World War I, and was relegated to the history books 74 years later, when Czechs and Slovaks - or rather their political leaders - decided to go their separate ways at the end of 1992. While Slovaks quickly forgot their old national day, Czechs went on as if nothing had happened. To this day

On Monday October 23rd, Hungary launched a series of events marking the 50th anniversary of its 1956 uprising and revolution. Scores of foreign leaders and envoys flocked to Budapest for the commemoration and memorial events. But those events were at times almost overshadowed by anti government protests.