Talking Point | All stories

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.

The Czech Labour Code is to be amended - but the question is how? Will it serve the rights of the employer or the employee? The changes proposed by the senior ruling coalition party, the Social Democratic Party, and passed through the first reading in the lower house of Parliament, uphold the authority of trade unions. That, say the opposition Civic Democrats and the two junior ruling coalition parties the Christian Democrats and the Freedom Union, is unacceptable: by making it difficult for employers to let go of unproductive staff and employ

Nowadays more and more Czechs are jumping into their cars instead of taking public transport, walking or cycling. A study conducted by the Environmental Research Centre at Charles University warns that the Czech Republic could move from being a moderately car dependent society to a high car dependent society by 2012 if current trends continue. So, why are Czechs so eager to be behind the steering wheel these days?

North Bohemia was once the member of a most unlucky club. Together with neighboring areas of Germany and Poland, the region was considered part of the "Black Triangle," so named for its unenviable position as one of Europe's most polluted areas. But since the fall of Communism, the Czech region has been dealing with the consequences of unrestrained industrial growth that poisoned its skies and depleted its once-thick forests. In this week's Talking Point, Eric Martin visits the region to find out if it can lose its "Black Triangle" nickname.

This week we look at what Prague residents say to City Hall's new pledge to clean up the city centre with a zero tolerance policy. And one of the places that Prague Mayor Pavel Bem hopes to begin with is Wenceslas Square.

The Czech media can brace itself for new competition; this time from the internet. With the number of internet users in the Czech Republic growing steadily - some 30% of the population of ten million are online regularly - the Czech web portal Centrum.cz, launched a new multi-media news server on Tuesday. Called "Aktualne.cz", which roughly translates into 'current affairs', it says it's the media of the 21st century as it provides news not just in text but also in audio and video.

When it comes to coverage of conflict in the Middle East, such as US military operations in Iraqi towns to wipe out remaining "Taliban" groups, or the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, how objective and trustworthy is mainstream Czech media? Does it just stick to the facts or does it allow political opinion to slip in? A discussion organised by Prague's Arab association Arabesque and the Association for International Affairs focused on just that.

Under Czech law, public service broadcasters are obliged to devote programming time to minorities living in this country such as Slovaks and Roma. In this week's Talking Point, we look at the impact these broadcasts have on the image of minorities in Czech society and the challenges facing public broadcasters as they grapple with an ever-changing demography.