Talking Point | All stories

Welcome to Talking Point. One year on after the start of the US-led military campaign that led to the overthrow of the regime of Saddam Hussein in Iraq, we'll hear the views of two Czechs who were directly involved either in the military operation itself, or the international efforts to restore post-Saddam Iraq. One is a journalist who was embedded with the US troops during the military campaign and the other is the former head of the Czech delegation at the US-led Coalition Provisional Authority.

With its numerous erotic bars and night clubs, as well as the very visible presence of prostitutes on many of its streets, Prague is developing a reputation as "the Amsterdam of the east". The city's sex industry has aroused much discussion in the past, with many calling on the government to bring the situation under control. Now a draft bill is being prepared by the Ministry of the Interior, which aims to legalise and regulate prostitution. If passed, the new law would see licences issued to prostitutes, who would then be able to legally work

Exactly a year ago, dozens of homes of Cuban human rights activists and independent journalists were raided under the direct order of Cuba's Dictator Fidel Castro. Most of their belongings, including radios, typewriters, and family photos were confiscated and the operation culminated with the arrest of seventy-five men and women. All were later sentenced to serve between fifteen and twenty-nine years in prisons, some of them hundreds of kilometres away from their families.

A special conference was held last month in Brussels, convened by the President of the European Commission Romano Prodi and co-organised by the World Jewish Congress in response to evidence of rising anti-Semitic prejudice across the European continent. To find out more about the situation in the Czech Republic, traditionally known for its low level of anti-Semitism, I spoke to two representatives of the Jewish community in the country, the head of the Federation of Jewish Communities in the Czech Republic, Tomas Kraus, and the director of the

The Czech media reported on Friday that a heavily drunk man had attacked and injured the crew of an ambulance carrying him to a "drunk tank" in the north of Prague. The incident happened just one day after the newly refurbished facility was officially opened by the Mayor of Prague Pavel Bem.

Czech doctors have declared war on obesity. With six percent of children and almost a quarter of the adult population obese, the Czech Republic follows countries such as the USA, Greece, Ireland and Portugal as the nation with the highest percentage of obese people. WHO, the World Health Organisation, considers obesity one of the ten main health threats for the 21st century.

Around three hundred people gathered in Prague's St. Thomas Church on Thursday evening to receive final instructions before they scattered around the city in order to carry out what was to be the first ever census of homeless people in the Czech capital.

Would you like to live in a turn-of-the-century building in the centre of Prague, with a marble entrance, high ceilings and double-winged doors? No problem, if you can afford it. The typical monthly rent for a three-bedroom flat in the historic centre is roughly 30,000 crowns (1,000 euros), almost double the average monthly income in the Czech Republic. But, believe it or not, there are many lucky tenants who pay ten times less for the same apartment in the same location, whatever their economic status.

At the beginning of the year, the majority of the Czech ambulatory services, some 22,000 health care professionals, closed their doors to patients and customers for an hour, to protest against the government's failure to meet their demands during its reform of the health care sector. The Czech Coalition of Ambulatory Physicians and the Union of Health Insurance Companies say since their protest act, neither the government, nor Health Minister Marie Souckova, have taken steps to consider the needs of the ambulatory services and health insurance

Since January 2003, authorities have been running a programme to attract skilled foreign workers to the Czech Republic as the country's population ages and Czechs go abroad to work. The scheme is still in the trial stages, open to applicants from just three countries - Bulgaria, Croatia, and Kazakhstan. Under the programme, potential immigrants are given fast-track access to residence permits, allowing them to settle permanently in this country after just two and a half years - instead of the usual ten.