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A booth on Prague’s Jungmann Square is making people stop and stare. Individuals walk inside, close the door and yell at the top of their lungs – to come out smiling moments later, as someone else takes their place. What you hear there is not a frustrated employee letting off steam after a bad day at work –it’s a voice raised in support of fair trade and making companies observe human rights and give people decent work conditions in countries where it is easy to abuse them. The Czech NGO Na Zemi has launched a campaign to raise awareness of how

In this week’s Panorama :a play at Prague’s National Theatre highlights the problems of coexistence between ethnic Czechs and the Roma minority, Karlovy Vary protesting against too many foreign language signs, and, Czech politicians make headlines from here to Belgrade.

Michal Thoma – like his father Zdeněk – is a well-known Czech photographer, traveller, and author focussing on countries in Asia, including India and Nepal. In Part 2 of this special Panorama, we focus on Manang – a village in the Himalayas which was unchanged for centuries when Zdeněk Thoma visited and photographed there in 1979. Thirty years later, his son Michal followed in his father’s footsteps and has since put together a joint-exhibition about Manang which you can see at The House at the Stone Bell in Prague.

Michal Thoma – like his father Zdeněk – is a well-known Czech photographer, traveller, and author focussing on countries in Asia, including India and Nepal. Publishing in Czech alternatives to National Geographic like Lidé a Země and Koktejl, Michal and his father and mum, have made travel writing and photography in exotic countries pretty much a family business and the Thoma name something of a ‘trademark’. In Part I, of this special Panorama Michal talks about how he got into photography and travel, beginning with his father’s career.

The heads of Czech cultural centres from around the world gathered in Prague last week to share ideas and make plans for the future. I met up with Pavla Niklová – head of the Czech centre in New York to talk about the kind of events that are organized and how popular they are with the public.

Fifty years ago today, three boys aged 14 and 15, boarded a regular flight between Prague and Brno. But they had another destination in mind – Munich, in West Germany. With no airport security, one of them had a handgun he had taken from his grandfather, and after some 10 minutes in air, they entered the cockpit and began to act. But the plan went terribly wrong, and they all spent many years in prison. One of them, 65-year-old Michael Procházka, recently put out a book, Confessions of a Plane Hijacker, which recounts the whole story up to his departure

Every summer the north-east Bohemian town of Dobruška turns truly cosmopolitan, opening its doors to Czech language students from around the world. The Czech language summer school organized by Charles University lasts for a month and is specially tailored for Czech expats and people who have developed an interest in the Czech language and culture.

Much has been said and written about the hemp plant and its medicinal uses. Although China experimented with hemp as medicine as far back at 2800 BC and cannabis therapies in Western medical practice date back to the 1800s many countries are still cautious about exploiting its potential. The Czech Republic is a case in point. Although earlier this year the authorities approved the use of a cannabis-based medicine, the British-made Sativex, the use of hemp for medical purposes remains illegal. Despite this, thousands of patients with multiple sclerosis,

Some people dream of travelling around the world, others want to bring the world to their native village. In this week’s edition of Panorama we meet three Czechs who have all made their dreams come true.

The National Heritage Institute which is responsible for the protection and preservation of the country’s historical monuments has over 100 palaces, castles and manor houses in its care. Over the past 20 years it has worked hard to restore many of those long-neglected buildings to their former glory and today they represent the best part of the country’s national heritage. Regrettably, many of those outside Prague remain undiscovered by foreign tourists. Tomáš Brabec of the National Heritage Institute says this is something that the institute is