ICE - special | All stories

Slovenia's Liberal Democracy party is the largest opposition party and was in power for most of Slovenia's independence since 1991. But last year it experienced changes and challenges when President Janez Drnovsek resigned. Since then other senior figures have followed Drnovsek leading many to ask - what's the future of the opposition Liberal Democracy?

The list of Hungarians who've made an impact on the film industry is long - from hollywood actress Zsa Zsa Gabor to Károly Makk, the acclaimed director. And at the National Film Festival which has just begun in Budapest it's pretty clear that Hungarians continue to punch above their weight when it comes to Hollywood and their own domestic film industry.

Hungary is up in arms about German waste - tonnes of it which have turned up at various sites around the country. Under EU law this is harmful industrial waste that should not be exported but dealt with in the country of origin. Hungarians are upset and an investigation is underway.

The artist Andy Warhol has plenty of fans in Slovkia. His parents were migrants to the United States from Mikova in the east of the country. But outside of Slovkia few are aware of his family roots. Now ballet director Mario Radacovsky is promoting Slovak cultural heritage. and that means a role for Warhol.

Seven months after the country's inconclusive general elections, the Czech Republic finally has a legitimate government. Prime Minister Topolanek's centre right ruling coalition made up of the Civic Democrats, Christian Democrats and the Green Party won a vote of confidence in the lower house of Parliament. But now, a little over a week after the vote, the country's new centre-right government faced its first serious blow.

It was in the Slovenian border town of Nova Gorica last week, that a group of people gathered for the third annual Guest Star awards. The ceremony honors foreigners in Slovenia; people who've come to the country and made a positive contribution to its development.

The internationally-renowned Polish journalist and writer Ryszard Kapuscinski died in a Warsaw hospital on January 23, at the age of 74. He was probably Poland's best-known living author. His books, translated into thirty languages, can be described as a chronicle of the parts of world ravaged by war and conflict.

High winds battered the Czech Republic Thursday evening and Friday morning, damaging buildings, interrupting traffic, and taking at least four lives. It was part of a violent storm front that swept across large parts of Europe, causing havoc not only here, but also in Britain, France, and Germany.

As currencies go, the Slovene Tolar had a short life. It was around for just 15 years before the euro, the common European currency, took over last week. That's when the tolar was no longer accepted for purchases in Slovenia. And there was quite a party to mark the change-over with top EU officials in Ljubljana for the event:

Poland's Minister of Culture and National Heritage, Kazimierz Michal Ujazdowski, has unveiled a new programme called "Patriotism for Tomorrow" aiming to teach young people responsibility and participation in public life. The programme devised by the culture ministry together with the National Center of Culture will support all educational and artistic initiatives which promote patriotism and Poland's history in a way accessible to the younger generation.