ICE - special | All stories

It's been a cool spring across much of Central Europe - Austria reported its coldest average spring temperatures for 40 years and in neighbouring Slovenia it was a similar story. And hopes of a hot summer were dashed by a very chilly first week of June. So how are Slovenes coping with the lousy weather? Michael Manske of Radio Slovenia International pulled on his jacket and went to find out...

The Czechs have gone to the polls: after eight years in government, the Social Democrats are to make room for the opposition right-of-centre Civic Democrats, with their sweeping promises of pro-market reforms and tax cuts. But that is not the end of the story. The Civic Democrats will only be able to form a majority government if they join forces with the Social Democrats. They have already rejected any form of cooperation with the Communists. The leaders of the Civic Democrats and the Social Democrats so far rule out a Grand Coalition, leaving

Polish President Lech Kaczynski vowed zero tolerance for anti-Semitism when he received the country's chief rabbi, who was attacked in the streets of Warsaw three days ago. The Polish head of State has said that he would not tolerate any kind of anti-Semitic actions in Poland. Radio Polonia's Bogdan Zaryn reports.

Insight Central Europe has had a number of reports of Slovak athletes excelling in sports such as ice hockey, tennis, swimming, slalom canoeing, shooting and weight lifting. But Slovaks have just been successful in a rather less well known sport: - the sport of fitness. Radio Slovakia International's Anca Dragu reports.

The post-election talks here are being followed with some interest across the border in Slovakia, which holds early elections in just under two weeks' time. Czechs and Slovaks spent eighty years together as part of a common state, and Czech politics is still keenly observed in Slovakia, though that's not the case, it seems, the other way round. So what lessons will be drawn in Bratislava from the political stalemate in Prague? Milan Nic is from the Slovak-based NGO, the Pontis Foundation.

An international congress of the European Playwork Association was recently held in Maribor. The association is an international non-governmental youth organisation and is active in more than 30 countries worldwide. Among other things it creates conditions for free play and intercultural understanding, and through networking combines cooperation and action. Ksenija Samardzija Matul from Radio Slovenia International attended one of the highlights of its congress - Play Day:

The US Senate has passed an amendment to a bill on immigration reform which paves the way for Polish tourists to travel to the States without visas for a trial period of two years. This is apparently in reward for Poland's role in supporting the US in the Iraq war and in the NATO stabilization force there. But it is up to the House of Representatives to have the final say on the bill. Michal Kubicki has the details:

We have almost reached mid-year but judging by the weather in Central Europe at the moment we might be forgiven for thinking that summer is over and autumn upon us. This week even saw fresh snowfall in the region's higher altitudes. In recent summers, Central Europe has suffered extremes, from heat waves, to extremely icy spells, endless rain, and floods. Thousands of kilometres away, the frequent earthquakes in Asia, have also caught meteorologists' attention. Many experts say climate change is to blame for most of these disquieting natural phenomena.

From R2D2 to the Terminator, robots are a common theme in modern fiction, but not many people realize that the robot was born in Prague exactly 85 years ago. To celebrate its birthday a project last week at the University of Cambridge in England examined the life of robots and their Czech creator.

For millions of couples around the world, the inability to have children is a personal tragedy. The World Health Organisation warns that for many of them, the private agony is compounded by a social stigma, which can have serious and far-reaching consequences, including social isolation and suicide. Slovakia has gradually become one of the most attractive destinations for "fertility tourists". And, it is not only its affordable prices of infertility treatments that account for this boom in reproductive tourism. Martina Grenova reports from