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The Budapest Museum of Fine arts is celebrating its centenary with the country's largest art exhibition of all time which opened under the title "Art and Culture in the Era of King Sigismund of Luxembourg". The exhibition, featuring 400 works of art from about 100 museums, libraries and church treasuries from 19 countries, focuses on the colourful personality, political career and art patronage of King Sigismund.

Speculation about a possible takeover of retail chain Mercator by Serb investors has sent shivers down the spines of Slovenians. Mercator is Slovenia's largest grocery chain and one of the biggest companies in the country. The rumours leaked at the beginning of the month, and immediately investors and the media alike struggled to find out whether the news was an April Fool's Day joke or real.

If you go for a stroll along the bank of the Danube in Bratislava, a billboard depicting a map of Hungary will almost certainly catch your eye. The map is colourful and the writing is entirely in Hungarian. It attracts attention because it is surrounded by other billboards advertising political parties ahead of Slovakia's June elections. Could it be part of the pre-election campaign of the ethnic Hungarian SMK party? Martina Grenova has been investigating. She found out that the map, which has been causing quite some controversy in Slovakia, has

The Czech Republic's security apparatus has at times looked very rickety indeed. The latest revelations, about the country's security vetting agency, the National Security Office or NBU, will have come as no surprise. An internal inquiry into malpractice at the NBU unveiled severe shortcomings which could have jeopardised the country's national security.

Irena Sendler is one of the unsung heroes of World War II. Now 96 years old, she saved 2,500 Jewish children from the Holocaust in Nazi-occupied Poland. The Polish Association of the Children of the Holocaust recently established an award named after this remarkable woman. It is to be presented annually to teachers who have made teaching about the Holocaust their mission. The Irena Sendler awards were recently presented for the first time.

Gunter Verheugen, vice-president of the European Commission, is currently in Prague meeting senior Czech politicians, including Prime Minister Jiri Paroubek. But he is no stranger to the Czech capital - he was a frequent visitor prior to May 2004, in his then capacity as commissioner for enlargement. On his first visit since the Czech Republic and nine other countries joined the EU, he discussed the experience of the last two years, and prospects for further enlargement.

Gdansk Shipyard, the cradle of Solidarity, which toppled communist rule in Poland, has a group of North Korean workers busy on the site. Shipyard officials say that the North Korean welders are filling vacancies left open by Polish workers who have left for greener pastures in the EU. But the team is said to be working in a gulag environment. Apparently, the repressive North Korean government is pocketing their wages, while the workers are constantly being watched by North Korean communist party members.

Looking through the new offers every day, sending out CV's, job interviews and then waiting anxiously for a phone call. Sounds familiar? In Slovakia, as in other countries around the world, this is an experience shared by most people at some time in their lives.

The Hungarian newspaper, Nepszabadsag, brought shocking news on Tuesday. A foreign grouping is planning a series of explosions in the running up period to the general elections, scheduled for April 9th and 23rd. The news was confirmed by Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany; the Slovak Intelligence Service (SIS) had issued a warning to Hungary's National Security Office. But in whose interest is it to set off explosions in Hungary?

The Cankarjev dom cultural centre in Ljubljana hosts an international documentary film festival every year in March. This year it is the eighth in a row and the organizers are showcasing different approaches and trends of contemporary documentary production.