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The Czech Foreign Minister has announced a wide ranging review of foreign policy to take account both of changes in the Czech Republic and those in the wider world. The review comes with the jury still out on whether a more streamlined EU foreign policy can deliver, the outcome of Afghanistan still unclear and questions still up in the air about relations with Russia. We look at what might be questioned in the review and what changes might follow.

President Václav Klaus has been a dominant figure on the Czech political scene ever since the early 1990s. The founder of the Civic Democrats was finance minister and later prime minister, before becoming head of state seven years ago. It is perhaps surprising then that the first political biography of Mr Klaus has only now been published. “Klaus: A Portrait of a Politician in Twenty Images” by the political analyst Jiří Pehe has provoked heated debate between the president’s supporters and opponents.

Prague’s National Gallery, one of the country’s most respected cultural institutions which includes a number of venues including Veletržní palace, has, along with other state-funded organisations, been told by the austerity government to save 15 percent of its budget next year. The cuts, following the earlier financial crisis, are expected to hit the gallery hard. While some steps have already been taken – a reduction in the number of exhibitions, a cutting back on acquisitions, a lowering of the number of staff – it is not likely to be enough.

One of the most startling features of recent elections in big cities, towns and local councils across the Czech Republic was the success of independent citizens’ groups in winning seats. Many campaigned on a simple ticket of throwing the incumbent big parties or coalitions, often tarnished with mismanagement or corruption, out of power. So do those elections mark a radical change or just a blip and is there any reason to hope that the blight of local government corruption can be conquered? In this week’s Talking Point we look at the phenomenon

The long-awaited video game Mafia II, produced by the Brno-based 2K Czech studio, came out last month and has since become a huge success with gamers around the world, acclaimed for its mature and realistic story line and top-notch graphics. In this week’s Talking Point, we explore the world of Vitto Scaletta and his adventures in the American underworld of the 1950s.

A storm of outrage erupted in mid August when Prague city council gave the green light for a camp to be created for the capital’s homeless. Human rights groups said it was a throwback to a darker era, non-profit groups argued the step would simply not work. This week’s Talking Point looks at the arguments stirred up about the homeless camp.

Czech scientists have come up with an interesting theory about the relation between a man's character and the colour of his eyes. According to the study which appeared in this month's issue of the journal Personality and Individual Differences, brown-eyed men are perceived as more dominant than blue-eyed ones. The main author of the study is Karel Kleisner from the Science Faculty of Prague's Charles University.

The contract to build two new nuclear reactors at the current south Bohemian site of Temelín with the option for another three elsewhere has been described as the tender of the century. The deal will be worth hundreds of billions of crowns, but there is more than the money at stake. The decision offers a stark choice between US, French and Russian companies and technology with the Czech Republic looking to get key strategic know-how and spin off contracts from the winner.

One phrase, fiscal responsibility, and one word, cuts, dominate Czech economic and political life following elections to the lower house at the end of May. The right-wing coalition government in the making has pledged the former, with public spending on the block in all post-election rhetoric. We look at the rationale behind the obsession with cutting public spending, and whether the likely next Czech government is choosing the right path.

The Green Party has recently brought forward a proposal to change legislation so that gay and lesbian individuals in the Czech Republic who live in a registered partnership would be able to adopt children. The proposal is based on an analysis by the Committee for Sexual Minorities. Within Europe, individual adoption for gays and lesbians in registered partnerships is legal in a number of countries, including Germany, Norway and the UK.