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With university entrance exams around the corner and the general elections only 4 months away, there is growing attention on the Czech Republic's system of higher education. There are some particular points of pride, such as the fact that Charles University's medical schools receive accreditation in the United States. Yet, there are also constant rumblings about the need to reform the system.

As the fifty-eighth anniversary of the communist coup in Czechoslovakia nears, survivors of that era are leading an effort to have their story told, and the wrongs they suffered financially compensated. Over 10 000 students were thrown out of university by the communists after February 1948 for political and religious reasons. Now, the question of monetary compensation for such injustices is back in the spotlight—though not all agree it is a good idea.

In recent days, the site of Lety near Pisek has been back in the spotlight. The Czech Republic's National Party stirred-up controversy when it erected a memorial stone to victims of WWII near the site where a Roma concentration camp stood between September 1942 and spring 1945. Seeing it as a denial of the Roma Holocaust, the mayor of Lety had the stone removed late last week. On Saturday, January 21st members of the National Party held an organized gathering at Lety, where Roma leaders and their supporters also met to guard what they consider

Imagine waking up to a day when the city's covered with smog, there is no sunlight and you cannot breathe, the air is heavy and there's nowhere to escape to. A day goes by, and then another and another...In the 1980s, many residents of the north Bohemian and Moravian industrial zones were used to such conditions. Doctors advised them to take in large amounts of Vitamin C, stay indoors, keep all windows closed, and avoid any strenuous sport. Then, the Communist regime fell, numerous factories and mines closed down, power plants were cleaned up,

Jeremy Rifkin is one of the most controversial American academics. The economist, philosopher, university professor and writer has published 17 books on the impact of scientific and technological changes on the economy, and has also been an advisor to many European politicians, including the former EU Commission president, Romano Prodi. David Vaughan caught up with him when he came to Prague towards the end of last year to plug the Czech edition of his newest book The European Dream - how Europe's vision of the future is quietly eclipsing the American

The Czech Republic has three of its most 'successful' businessmen on the run. The infamous "Pirate of Prague" Viktor Kozeny, wanted by the Czech authorities for absconding with billions of Czech crowns belonging to thousands of small shareholders, effectively 'bought' Irish citizenship and moved to the Bahamas. Radovan Krejcir, accused of tax evasion and conspiracy to murder, acquired Seychelles citizenship back in 1996. He has been living on the island ever since he managed to escape from his home in the middle of a police search in the summer

A recently released Europe-wide survey found that young people in the Czech Republic are the leading smokers of cannabis in the whole of the European Union. Before the fall of the Iron Curtain drugs were largely unheard of in Czech society, and were very much an underground phenomenon. Today, however, marijuana in particular seems to have become accepted as a normal part of life in the Czech Republic.

For the last fifteen years the association Koexistencia has been promoting the rights of Polish and Hungarian minorities in the Czech Republic. In this week's Talking Point, we look at how these two national minorities, amounting to tens of thousands of people are faring in the Czech Republic today.

Over the past decade or so, visitors have been flocking to Prague in ever-increasing numbers. Many of them have been attracted by tales of the city's beautiful, well-preserved architecture, which embraces many different styles ranging from the imposing gothic grandeur of St Vitus' Cathedral to the baroque opulence of St. Nicholas' Church. This upsurge in tourism has resulted in a swathe of development projects across the Czech capital aimed at meeting the demands of visitors to the city. Critics say such initiatives pose a threat to the architectural

Today's Talking Point is dedicated to women - women who in a male dominated profession are now to be found more often than any time before. We look at the policewomen of the Czech capital Prague with Jarka Halkova.