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Warsaw is to have a Museum of the History of Polish Jews. The recent cornerstone-laying ceremony brought together prominent personalities from Poland and around the world, including Polish current and former presidents, past and present Israeli ambassadors to Poland, rabbis and Catholic Church leaders. 'This won't be another Holocaust museum' - stress the project authors - but a center for dialogue, culture and education about the long and rich history of Polish - Jewish coexistence.

A member of the Czech Senate has been fighting allegations of racism recently, following the release of a recording made at a local authority meeting. Senator Liana Janackova is apparently heard making derogatory and threatening remarks about Romanies in her ward - and even admitting to being a racist. The politician says the comments have been taken out of context.

Later this year the Czech capital Prague will launch a bid to host the Summer Games in 2016. However, there are a number of obstacles on the route to becoming an official candidate. These include calls for a referendum, property disputes about sites for Olympic buildings, questions over the budget - and ground squirrels. Ground squirrels?

Ski jumping wouldn't have reached its unprecedented popularity in Poland if it hadn't been for the successes of a single athlete - Adam Malysz. And now motor racing, a sport that, until recently didn't enjoy a high profile has became popular thanks to the spectacular career of one young man.

The Ljubljana Summer Festival began this week and runs until the 18th of August. It showcases a host of talent from opera, ballet, and dance performances to symphony orchestras, jazz and cinema.

Russia has raised the possibility of moving some of its missiles to Kaliningrad. This is the small piece of Russian territory which is surrounded by European Union territory - Poland and Lithuania - and the Baltic Sea. Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov linked such a move to plans by the US to build an anti-missile shield in Poland and the Czech Republic. Russia wants the US to use Russian facilities to deal with the perceived threat of missiles from so-called rogue states. Russia has already threatened to aim missiles at Europe and the Kaliningrad suggestion

It's just over three years since what are known as the Visegrad states, Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia joined the EU. Those three years have seen strong economic growth. And a new report from the Vienna based Institute for International Economics says high rates of growth will continue next year - the exception being Hungary.

The European Union has put energy security at the top of its agenda but there's little agreement on the future role of nuclear energy. Some EU states like the Czech Republic and Slovakia rely heavily on nuclear energy and see few alternatives. Others, like Austria, remain totally opposed to nuclear power. How to resolve the differences? Well the European Nuclear Energy Forum has been created to come up with some answers. It's being hosted by Prague and Bratislava.

Slovakia has the fastest growing economy in central Europe, and according to Freedom House that economic growth is overshadowing democratic growth. The 'Nations in Transit' report says the Slovak media haven't changed in their democratic approach but there are disturbing trends which could lead to the press being less free. It says the media are under pressure from the current government, elected a year ago.

The Bata shoe company is one of the best known international symbols of the Czech Republic, while its founding family are highly respected by people in the country. But one member of the family, the late Jan Antonin Bata, has been in some disgrace since being found guilty in absentia of collaborating with the Nazis. The Bata family have for years sought to clear his name, and have just succeeded in having a Prague court reopen the case - a full six decades later.