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In Poland a group of parents and radio professionals have launched a novel media outlet. They call it Baby Radio. A radio station for babies, toddlers and small children.

The United States says it will allow Russia to monitor the missile defence bases it's planning for Central Europe. Moscow and Washington are engaged in a deep diplomatc row over the bases which will see missile insterceptors deployed in Poland and radar bases built in the Czech Republic. Russia has even threatened to aim its missile at the Central European bases if they go ahead. Talks underway in Washington may have found a way to take the heat out of the dispute by allowing Russian monitors inside the bases.

Slovakia has made dramatic economic progress in recent years. In fact a report from the OECD describes it as "stellar". GDP growth rates have hit 9 percent at times and unemployment has fallen dramatically. But as Ivan Basnak reports from Bratislava not all sectors of Slovak society are seeing the benefits - among them the scientists.

It could be claimed that café culture was born in Central Europe. Parisians may disagree but the cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague pride themselves on a long tradition of coffee, cigarette smoke and political scheming. Take Prague. At the turn of the twentieth century, writers like Karel Čapek and Franz Kafka would meet with artists, academics and politicians in the Czech capital's cafes to expound ideas over a cup of coffee - and maybe the smallest sip of absinthe. Now a new exhibition called 'Prague's Coffeehouses and their World' takes a

The European Union's Reform Treaty, also known as the Treaty of Lisbon, is running into ratification difficulties in Slovakia and Poland. In Slovakia opposition parties are linking ratification to support for a controversial media bill. In Poland some MP's want the ratification bill to include a statement on the supremacy of the Polish constitution over EU law. This is worrying for the EU because all of its member states must ratify the treaty before it can take effect.

In picture postcards from Slovenia, pretty painted beehives are a common motif. But Slovenia is worried about the occupants of those hives. They're disappearing amid a dispute over why and where they're going. The Slovenian Beekeepers' Association is warning between 50 and 70% of bee families are already gone from some parts of the country.

The Polish government has been given assurances by the United States that it will help modernize the Polish army as part of a deal on locating a missile defense shield on Polish territory. This at least is part of the outcome of a visit to Washington last week by Prime Minister Donald Tusk. The visit described, even by some opposition politicians in Poland, as the government's "moderate success".

It is almost three months since the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and Slovenia entered the European Union's border free travel zone, known as Schengen. Border checkpoints between the various countries were ceremonially decommissioned and there was a feeling of optimism and excitement about what Schengen might mean. But have things really changed three months into Schengen membership? Radio Prague's Rosie Johnston has been exploring what it means for Czech's by travelling to the Czech-German border.

Evgeni Plushenko of Russia, the four-times world champion figures skater won his first Olympic Gold Medal at the 2006 Winter Olympics. He then decided to take a break from competitive skating to rest and recover from past knee injuries. In April last year, however, Plushenko announced he would return to the ice to compete in the 2010 Olympics to be held in Vancouver in Canada. Meanwhile he keeps on doing his exhibition show called King of Ice. Two shows are scheduled for Bratislava and Kosice in Slovakia in April. He's been speaking to Slovak

Thousands of people gathered in Vienna's Heldenplatz on Wednesday night to mark the 70th anniversary of the Anschluss - the annexation of Austria into Hitler's Third Reich. It was called the "night of silence".