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Former Czech president, Vaclav Havel, has appealed to Prime Minister Jiri Paroubek not to scrap existing coal mining limits in the north of the country in a bid to save miners' jobs. In an open letter, Mr Havel highlighted the fates of two villages threatened with destruction if limits set in 1991 are relaxed. A government decision on the issue is expected in the next few weeks.

The former Czech president Vaclav Havel has received the Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Arts. Mr. Havel received the award from Austrian President Heinz Fisher at Hofburg Palace in Vienna on Friday. President Fisher said Vaclav Havel had been chosen for this honour mainly due to his merit in strengthening relations between Prague and Vienna.

Czechs and Slovaks marked the 16th anniversary of the start of the 1989 Velvet Revolution on Thursday, a time when people remember the overthrow of Communist rule and reflect on the changes that have swept society since then. But discontent is growing with the current political situation, and that discontent was reflected in the mood on the streets of Prague. Radio Prague's Rob Cameron has this report.

In many ways it could easily be dubbed the 'ultimate' NGO - the Club of Madrid founded as a non-governmental organisation making use of experience and know-how of former world leaders to promote democracy around the world, whether in the Middle East, North Korea, or the post-Milosevic Balkans. But, this year the organisation's annual assembly was also a look back, taking a look at countries since the fall of the Berlin Wall. Titled 'Democracy in a post communist world' - the meeting in Prague was the first held by the club outside of Spain. Jan

Former president Vaclav Havel has said he is hard at work on a new play. His last wrote a play in 1988, the year before the Velvet Revolution which swept him into office. Mr Havel stepped down as president in February 2003. Before entering politics, he wrote fifteen plays for the theatre. Mr Havel said that, like "all of his previous work," the new play would explore the nature of human identity and address themes of morality and accountability.

The former Czech President Vaclav Havel said that people in post-communist states, including the Czech Republic, will sooner or later call for changes as they will not tolerate the interconnection of economic and political elites that replaced communist regimes in the 1990s. Speaking in Prague on Friday at a meeting of the Club of Madrid, Mr Havel said that the public refuses to accept mafia practices at a certain moment and people start awakening as citizens. He also said the call for change has been already evident in Ukraine or Georgia. The former President of Ireland, Mary Robinson, who's also attending, said on Friday the European Union should make more efforts towards the democratisation of Belarus. The Club of Madrid was established in the Spanish capital three years ago and its members, former heads of states, meet regularly. The present forum is its first event held outside Spain.

Former Czech president Vaclav Havel has been voted one of the world's Top Five public intellectuals. More than 20,000 voters from around the world took part in selecting the winners from a list of one hundred candidates, drawn up by the editors of the British magazine 'Prospect' and the US magazine 'Foreign Policy'. Brian Kenety has more.

The Czech Republic has been a member of the European Union since May 2004, but the EU still has the potential to cause controversy. The EU flag flutters over the Foreign Ministry and the Government Office, but not over Prague Castle, seat of the Czech President - in this case euro-sceptic president Vaclav Klaus. Mr Klaus's refusal to fly the flag has angered two well-known Czech personalities - musician Michal Kocab, who composed the Castle fanfare, and Borek Sipek, architect to former president Vaclav Havel. On Wednesday the two made a public

In Belarus this month allied opposition activists agreed on a single candidate to challenge the autocratic rule of President Alexander Lukashenko in next year's presidential elections. Alexander Milinkevich, the man picked to take on "Europe's last dictator," travelled to Prague this week at the invitation of former Czech president Vaclav Havel, a vocal opponent of the Lukashenko regime. Mr Milinkevich discussed the current situation in Belarus at the Forum 2000 meeting.

Intended as a one-off meeting of intellectuals and activists from around the globe, the Forum 2000 conference has become a veritable Prague institution. Founded in 1996 by former Czech president Vaclav Havel, the Japanese philanthropist Yohei Sasakawa, and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Elie Wiesel, the theme of this year's conference is "Conflict and Coexistence".