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The International Law Enforcement Academy, popularly known as 'FBI Academy', was set up by the US and Hungarian governments in 1995. It's based in Budapest and trains police officers from Central and Eastern Europe in fighting organised crime. But now the United States says it will shift the focus of it's training to fighting terrorism. Sandor Laczko of Radio Budapest has been speaking to the commander of the academy, Dale Wegkamp.

Study and travel figure strongly in the ambitions of young Slovenes - but top of the list is job prospects. But as Ksenija Samardzija-Matul many young Slovenes have mixed feelings about getting a job elsewhere in the EU.

The Maria Valeria Bridge once linked Sturovo and Esztergom. It was built in 1895 and joined the Lower and Upper parts of the Hungarian kingdom. But at the end of World War 2 escaping German troops destroyed it. During all of the communist years it was not rebuilt - and the two communities - Hungarian Esztergom and Slovakian Sturovo were divided by the Danube. The bridge lay in ruin for 56 years until the Slovak Republic and Hungary set about restoring the bridge with help from the EU. It finally re-opened in 2002 and again serves as a unifying symbol between the Hungarian and Slovak communities.

Slovakia has one of the lowest cancer survival rates in Europe and 23 000 new cases of cancer are registered every year in Slovakia. This number is predicted to increase over the next few years. But NGOs, the government and health care professionals are working hard to prevent this happening.

Family comes first, politics comes last for most young people in Hungary these days. This is one of the findings of a new survey by GFK Hungaria - a market research company. They looked into the lifestyle, habits and opinions of 14 to 24 year-olds in Hungary.

This year's international festival of modern art, now underway in the Slovene capital Ljublijana. The theme of the festival is 'Believe the Impossible.' Festival coordinator Bettina Knaup, speaks about the meaning behind the title...

Cancer survival rates throughout Europe are improving - but the gap between eastern and western Europe is widening. That's according to a new study by EUROCARE. It shows people living in Austria, France and Switzerland have the best chance of beating the disease while those in Slovakia, Slovenia, the Czech Republic and Poland have the lowest. What accounts for this gap? We ask one of the authors of the EUROCARE report, Professor Michael Coleman, of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

Pope John Paul II has been celebrating mass in Rome this week, looking well and alert - in contrast to reports last week that he was near to death. The service was part of a month of events marking his 25th year as head of the Roman Catholic Church. But in the Pope's staunchly catholic homeland of Poland, speculation that he may not have long to live still dominates the media.

The Carpathian Mountains dominate much of Eastern Europe. Originating in Romania, they arch round into Ukraine, passing through Slovakia and Poland, before finally fizzling out in the Czech Republic, where they're known as the Beskydy. The Beskydy - like the rest of the Carpathians - were once teeming with scary beasts, including bears and wolves. A hundred years ago they'd been hunted to extinction. Now, they're starting to come back.

Border guards in eastern Poland are reporting a sharp drop in visits from some their eastern neighbours. Poland introduced new frontier controls on October 1st. - including visas for visitors from Russia, Belarus and Ukraine. Previously, travellers from these countries could enter Poland for three months with just a passport. Now they have to apply for a visa in advance. This is part of Poland's preparation to join the European Union in May next year. But for around one million east Europeans now working illegally in Poland - the new visa regime