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Prague's rabbi Karol Sidon was recently dismissed from his position by the board of the Prague Jewish community. The official statement says that he failed to perform his duties satisfactorily. However, there is speculation that behind his dismissal there could also be a dispute between the orthodox and non-orthodox groups in the city's 1600 member strong Jewish community.

For the first time in Hungary, an employee has made a public complaint about sexual harassment in the workplace. Ironically the complaint comes from a secretary working in the government office for equal opportunity. The case is being investigated and some experts believe this will be the first of many.

The district court in the eastern town of Lubartow has ruled that the heirs of the aristocratic Zamojski family have the right to compensation for the unlawful nationalisation in the 1940s of their family park and palace complex in the locality of Kozlowka. Built in baroque style the palace now houses a museum filled with thousands of impressive and extremely precious exhibits.

For many viewers sitting in a circus tent at the biggest summer music festival in Slovakia, it was a strange feeling to see a couple of blind and physically disabled people in wheel chairs being brought on stage. All the hesitation disappeared at the moment when Ferko and Martinka Dudo started singing Roma czardas', also presented on a compilation CD of old Roma songs entitled Phurikane Gila. For many of the viewers in the tent, including me, this was one of the highlights of the whole music event.

News that Pope John Paul II has appointed a special envoy to investigate allegations of sexual misconduct at a seminary in Lower Austria has brought a sigh of relief to many Catholics. The unusual step was taken after police discovered child pornography on computers at the Seminary.

Before Slovakia's accession to the European Union many worried that the cheap and skilled labour force will be the first item to emigrate to the EU. Well, surprise, surprise, the mundane subject of butter has proved to be the front runner.

For the 14th consecutive year Warsaw is the venue for the Mozart Festival. The event is the brainchild of Stefan Sutkowski, the artistic director of the Warsaw Chamber Opera who many years ago conceived the idea of producing ALL of Mozart's opera. Gradually the central idea of the project emerged - that of blending the sound of the music with stage action in an interior, modeled on the old theatres of Vienna and Prague for which these operas were originally written.

In Slovenia, the political scene has had to overcome several hurdles as a result of last month's elections to the European parliament. As in many other European countries, voters in Slovenia gave strong support to opposition parties. Now, only three months ahead of the Slovenian parliamentary elections, it is more than obvious that the actions and debates of political parties are still motivated by the spirit of the pre-election period.

The Hungarian Railway History Park - the first interactive railway park in Europe - exhibits more than 100 railway vehicles on about 70 thousand square metres, at a former shunting yard in Budapest. The yard was opened in 1913, and was the biggest of its kind at the time. Today's park was opened in July 2000, but renovation has been going on ever since. The Hungarian State Railways has established a Nostalgia Company that has now begun to operates the park.

Growing criticism from Britain, including such celebrities as the author of the popular Harry Potter children's books JK Rowling has resulted in much discussion on psychiatric care in the Czech Republic, especially on the use of so-called caged and netted beds - beds surrounded by iron bars or nets used to control aggressive or confused patients.