ICE - special | All stories

Almost twelve months after Poland took charge of the eight thousand strong multinational force in south-central Iraq, a highly difficult time has come for the Polish mission. This follows the deaths of three Polish soldiers in as many days.

The 28th Olympic Games come to their end this weekend. And we know the names of the medal winners and we've seen the emotion on their faces as the music of their national anthems rings out across the stadium. But not too many of us knew that every note of every anthem at the Athens Olympics - came from Slovakia. The famous tunes were arranged by Slovak composer Peter Breiner who recorded them with the Symphonic Orchestra of the Slovak Radio. The manager of the orchestra, Marian Turner:

While Slovenians have been hosting classical music fans, Hungary has been hosting a major folk art festival - the Folkloriada. It's the meeting place for people from all around the world who want to keep their own folk customs traditions and crafts alive - and pass them on. Several Hungarian cities provided the meeting place for dancers, musicians and craft men and women from 72 countries. Dorottya Hoppal is an organiser of the festival:

Europe's newest and youngest Prime Minister - 34-year-old Stanislav Gross - has been in office for just a few weeks, but already he's managed to create a minor political storm. He ruffled more than a few feathers with his initial choice for Cabinet Secretary - a former Communist-era riot police commander. The Cabinet Secretary has now been replaced after protests, but the incident has called Mr Gross's integrity into question, and has also brought other Communist-era skeletons out of the closet.

A debate over gay marriage and equal rights for same sex couples has begun in Austria. The debate was sparked by Andreas Khol, the Parliamentary President and a senior figure in the conservative People's Party. Joanna King reports.

When the European Union enlarged on May 1st most of the old member states kept restrictions on the movement of labour from the new member states. The exceptions were Britain and Ireland. One result is that since May 1st 11,000 Poles have moved to Ireland for work. Direct flights from Warsaw to Dublin now cater for the traffic. Elzbieta Krajewsa reports on the attractions of the Emerald Isle - for Poles.

In many countries in central and eastern Europe, black football players frequently come in for racist abuse from the terraces. Clubs and national associations have sometimes come in for heavy fines, but the problem shows no signs of going away. The Czech government has just launched a new anti-racism campaign, part of which focuses on the issue of racism in football. Radio Prague's Ian Willoughby reports.

In largely Roman Catholic Slovakia, divorce rates have doubled in the last 15 years, and the issue is currently making the headlines, with the country's socially conservative justice minister pushing to make divorce harder to obtain. But are the real causes of divorce being addressed? And how do ordinary Slovaks feel about the issue? Radio Slovakia's Anca Dragu reports.

Slovenia is one of the new EU member states where unemployment is low and few people are moving abroad. Nevertheless poverty among young people has become an issue and the number of people claiming social benefits is on the rise. In fact, since Slovenia's independence in 1991 the number of adults receiving social assistance has increased four times over. Ksenija Samaradzija Matul from Radio Slovenia International has more.

The 12th Sziget Festival, most probably Europe's best known and biggest cultural event for the young attracted a record 369,000 visitors this year to that small island between Buda and Pest on the river Danube. While performers included a vast array of names in all genres - all the way from the Pet Shop Boys through Cannibal Corpse to Roni Size, visitors could also take part in many cultural programs, games and contests between August 4th and 11th.