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The international Mental Disability Advocacy Centre (MDAC) wants to take the Czech Republic to court. The centre, an NGO promoting and protecting the interests of people with mental health problems, hopes to challenge the use of caged beds in Czech psychiatric wards and institutions. Caged beds are in use in the Czech Republic to restrain patients with mental disabilities. Although their use has been banned in Czech hospitals, they continue to be common in residential homes that are battling with low staff numbers and a severe lack of funding.

As millions of Catholics around the world commemorated the first anniversary of Pope John Paul II's death earlier this month, in his native Poland the atmosphere was very reminiscent of what the country witnessed a year ago, before and after the Pope's death. But is there anything beyond these manifestations of religious fervour?

In much of Central Europe there's an Easter Monday tradition which can surprise and shock outsiders. Men go from house to house symbolically beating women with a whip made from a few twigs of willow. In some countries, they also pour water or perfume on them. It's supposed to bring women good health throughout the year and women are expected to thank the men with an Easter egg, some food, drink, or a coin. Sounds strange? Katarina Richterova has more on this common custom in Central Europe's Catholic countries:

European Union foreign ministers have imposed a visa ban on the newly re-elected president of Belarus - Alexander Lukashenko and 30 of his top officials. The move, strongly supported by the Czech Republic and Poland, is aimed at pressing home the 25-nation bloc's denunciation of his re-election last month. Belarus dismissed the ban as "short-sighted". Mr Lukashenko is often referred to as Europe's last dictator.

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.

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 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?