Talking Point | All stories

Some of you may recall a Radio Prague report earlier this month on a joint initiative by cultural institutes to point to suitable ways in which the Czech Republic's deconsecrated church property could be used. Most of this property is on the country's list of heritage sites, containing monuments, buildings and art that are of great value but in dire need of repair. In this week's Talking Point, Dita Asiedu speaks with Dr. Josef Stulc from the National Institute for Heritage Preservation:

A decade ago, back in 1993, a new model of social work called "streetwork" was introduced to the Czech Republic. The idea is to move the act of social assistance from the office desk to the clients themselves - to the street, so to speak. Streetwork began to develop both in the governmental and non-governmental sphere. At first the two sectors did not cooperate much and there was even a certain level of rivalry between them. In today's Talking Point we look at one project of social streetwork where the state and NGOs work in harmony.

At the end of October, there were 625 registered cases of HIV infection on record, of which 175 were cases of full-blown AIDS. These, of course, are just the registered cases and the actual number could be ten times higher. But even then would the country be considered one with a low-level incidence of HIV. Nevertheless, experts warn that statistics could shoot up to unexpected levels.

The Czech Republic has a rich tradition of winter sports, thanks to its climate and also a ring of mountain ranges that surround the whole country and provide plentiful skiing opportunities. Generations of Czechs took compulsory skiing courses at primary and secondary school, and also at university. With the ski season just beginning, I paid a visit to a ski gear shop in Prague and enquired about where exactly people go skiing these days.

The largest ever Canadian delegation visited Prague last Friday, making their way through all ten countries set to join the European Union next year. A group of Senior level officials representing various departments came to forge new relations and intensify dialogue with the Czech Republic. With the country's imminent EU accession, Canada will look at the Czech Republic with new eyes. Not only is the EU Canada's second largest trading partner but Canada is also close to Europe in many of its cultural and social values. Canada straddles the Atlantic

During the second half of the 1980s, the tension that was created after the 1968 Soviet-led invasion in Czechoslovakia had eased, especially after the introduction of Mikhail Gorbachev's Perestroika reforms in the Soviet Union. The Czechoslovak leadership, however, still headed by Gustav Husak who came to power after the '68 invasion, was suspicious of movements intended to "reform communism from within" and continued to embrace a hard line. But by 1988 there were organized demonstrations demanding change and with the fall of the Berlin Wall and

Last week was European Week of Science and Technology. The Czech Republic joined it with a number of events and discussions showing the highlights, but also unveiling the challenges the Czech scientific community is facing. What are the biggest problems Czech science is confronting?

Last Tuesday, some shocking news stirred the quiet atmosphere of what was a national holiday here in the Czech Republic. A report published by the German branch of the United Nations Children's Fund UNICEF said child prostitution was rampant on the German-Czech border, with paedophiles flocking to the region from throughout Europe. The report went on to say that often the children were pimped by their own relatives, adding that the youngest children offered for sex were mere infants. The Czech authorities immediately dismissed the report. Prime

October 28th marks the 85th anniversary of the foundation of Czechoslovakia. Many say that the legacy that Tomas Garrigue Masaryk, the founder and first president of Czechoslovakia, bestowed on his nation was one of democracy and not nationalism. But it was the birth of a sense of nationalism or rather national identity that led to Czechoslovakia's foundation - Czechs and Slovaks united in their opposition to Austro-Hungarian rule, proud to be Czechoslovak and not just a small part of a large monarchy. But what is it like today? With globalisation,

If you ask any Czech to describe the country's court system in one word, most people would probably say "slow". Although the Czech Republic has the largest number of judges per head of population in Europe, there are currently around 70,000 court cases which have been dragging on for more than three years. More and more often, people whose court cases have lasted for too long without a result resort to filing a complaint with the European Court of Human Rights. In several cases the Strasbourg court has ruled in the plaintiffs' favour and ordered