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Now, are you sitting comfortably? Then I'll begin... Once upon a time, in a land far, far, away, a group of celebrities met to read their favourite fairytales to children who had gathered to listen. On Tuesday night, former President Vaclav Havel was joined by musicians, sportspeople, and filmmakers at an event called 'From My Favourite Children's Book...' The evening included readings from well-known Czech children's classics, as well as songs, and stories written by Mr. Havel himself. This mix of music and fairytale seemed to go down a treat

Meanwhile, the former Czech president Vaclav Havel said no concessions should be made to Russia in the issue of the US missile defence shield in Europe, the German news DPA agency reported on Thursday. Mr Havel warned that Russia's interference in Central Europe was a sinister remnant of Cold War.

A documentary film about the former president entitled Obcan Havel (Citizen Havel) is to go on release in Czech cinemas from the end of January, a spokesperson for its distributors said. The original director Pavel Koutecky died during the making of the film; it was subsequently completed by Miroslav Janek.

Former Czech president Vaclav Havel has been presented with Germany's Dolf Sternberger Award for public speaking at a ceremony at Prague's Goethe Institute. The prize is given for achievement in combining public addresses with political aims, and is named after a German philosopher noted for his concept of citizenship. Speaking at Tuesday's award ceremony, Mr Havel said the 'banalisation' of political speech was a sign of the 'banalisation' of thoughts and deeds.

This month the Canadian Ambassador to Prague Michael Calcott hosted a panel discussion at the Canadian residence recalling cooperation between Czech dissidents and Canadian officials in the years leading up to the fall of communism. During the mid-1980s, the end of the period known as the Normalisation, key officials at the embassy went out on a limb, risking careers to help dissidents and their cause, even going so far as to smuggle dissident writing, even going so far as to smuggle dissident writing (Samizdat) out of the country. Documents included

On Tuesday the Canadian Ambassador to Prague hosted a panel discussion at the Canadian residence recalling cooperation between Czech dissidents and Canadian officials in the years prior to the fall of communism. The event was most unusual as it brought together many of the former players: figures like Jan Urban and Jirina Siklova and former embassy officials.

This week, Prague has been playing host to leading Belarusian political dissident Aljaksandr Milinkevic as part of Forum 2000. The leader of the country's suppressed opposition movement 'Za Svobodu', or 'For Freedom' received a prestigious human rights prize from former president Vaclav Havel, and spoke to an audience consisting largely of Czech students about human rights in Belarus. The visit highlights the activism of Czech non-governmental organizations in promoting human rights in Europe's last dictatorship.

The current peace in Burma may be only imaginary and people shouldn't get lulled by it, former Czech president Vaclav Havel said at the Forum 2000 conference on Monday. Mr Havel also called on the conference participants to sign a petition in support of the Burmese dissident and Nobel Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi.

The Forum 2000 Conference held under the auspices of Vaclav Havel started in Prague on Sunday, attracting prominent figures from all over the world. The theme for this 11th Forum is 'Freedom and Responsibility', and guests include former US Foreign Secretary Madeleine Albright, Nobel peace-prize winner Shirin Ebadi, and former head of the World Bank Paul Wolfowitz. The conference will run until Tuesday.

Czech president Vaclav Klaus received an award from the Association of Austrians living abroad on Monday. The award is in recognition of his contribution to the liberation of Central Europe and supporting free market. Mr Klaus, who received the award on a private visit to Vienna, is also scheduled to attend an international scientific conference to present his position on climate change in the modern world. The Czech head of state has repeatedly claimed that the current increase in global temperature is relatively small and its impacts on society are negligible.

Sunday sees the launch of the 11th Forum 2000, a conference held by former Czech President Vaclav Havel, and attracting prominent figures from all over the world. The theme for this 11th Forum is 'Freedom and Responsibility', and guests include former US Foreign Secretary Madeleine Albright, Nobel peace-prize winner Shirin Ebadi, and former head of the World Bank Paul Wolfowitz. Forum 2000 will run until Tuesday, and consists of seminars, workshops, roundtables and exhibitions. More information can be found at www.forum2000.cz.