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The Czech Republic has often been criticised for its relatively high level of corruption and economic crime. A recent survey carried out by PricewaterhouseCoopers showed that the number of detected cases of economic crime has risen since 2001 - by some seven percent. While the most common type of economic crime is fraud, more than 50 percent of Czech companies say the most widespread type of economic crime in the country is corruption and bribery. One of the organisations trying to tackle corruption in the public sector is the civic association

At the end of this month, the Consortium of Refugee Assisting Organisations in the Czech Republic, ends its three year activity in the country. It was established to set up a unified and consistent system of delivering services to refugees coming to the Czech Republic. On Wednesday, the third annual national seminar of the Consortium was held in Prague mainly focusing on legal trends and developments in the country's asylum system, the social and psychological developments, and the integration of recognised refugees and foreigners. In this week's

During the past few years, the two words "Benes decrees" have been ubiquitous in the Czech media. Most recently the term has been used in connection with the case of Franz Ulrich Kinsky, a member of an aristocratic family with long roots in Bohemia, who has filed a total of 157 lawsuits asking the Czech courts to confirm that he is the rightful owner of large amounts of property which were confiscated from him as a child after the war. The so-called "Benes decrees" that politicians, journalists, lawyers and property claimants frequently refer to,

On Friday night our much-loved colleague from Radio Prague, Olga Szantova, died at the age of 71: the end of a long battle with cancer and a life that was quite exceptional. She will be hugely missed not just by colleagues but also by many thousands of listeners, who had grown to know her over a radio career that spanned over 40 years. David Vaughan remembers.

In this week's Talking Point, Dita Asiedu speaks to a PWC representative in Prague about economic crime in the country and ask ordinary Czechs how they think the situation has changed since the fall of Communism in 1989:

Almost fourteen years ago, the communist regimes of Central and Eastern Europe came crumbling down, starting a new era in the history of Europe. In Czechoslovakia, the events of November and December of 1989 came to be known as the "Velvet Revolution". Although they bear much in common, the revolutions in other countries of the region were not so peaceful and rapid. Professor Padraic Kenney from the Department of History at the University of Colorado is the author of a recently published book called "A Carnival of Revolution", which deals precisely

The Clinic for Paediatric Oncology in Prague celebrates its twentieth anniversary since its foundation in 1983. Dr. Guilio D'Angio and Prof Audrey Evans are renowned personalities who have devoted their lives to helping children with cancer fight the disease in the United States. They came to Prague to honour their colleague Dr. Koutecky, one of the founding fathers of the clinic, who retires this year. In this week's Talking Point, Dita Asiedu speaks to these two important personalities and Dr. Tomas Eckschlager, the head physician of the clinic's

No other European politician can rival the German Social Democrat Gunther Verheugen in the huge role he has played in steering the countries of Central Europe towards the European Union. As the EU Commissioner for enlargement since September 1999, he has travelled over vast areas of the region and has become a familiar face to millions of Central Europeans. In his native Germany he has also been tipped as a future foreign minister. With just nine months to go until the biggest enlargement in EU history, Gunther Verheugen is our guest in today's

A train station - that's where many a journey around the Czech Republic begins. Backpackers from across the continent and from as far as Japan or North America use trains to travel around Europe, because they are versatile, comfortable and affordable. For young travellers, affordability is often the decisive factor in choosing accommodation as well. Young travellers and students have different needs and demands than tourists in other age categories, and they need a different approach.

It doesn't happen every day that a Czech scientist or artist succeeds on an international scale. This is all the more true about Czech architects. One name however stands out. It is signed under two projects which received international acclaim and, by coincidence, they are both connected with the country of Egypt - one being the library in Alexandria and the other the Grand Egyptian Museum. The name is Martin Roubik, a man with an interesting life story. After being expelled from university by the Czechoslovak communist authorities in the 1970s,