Radio Prague

Around a thousand spires, belfries and towers of various styles and ages now grace Prague's city centre. Some of them are popular tourist attractions, others only recently revealed their mysteries.

Many Czech towns and cities are filling with video surveillance cameras as an effective way of curbing crime. While many have welcomed the practice, others warn that it could lead to a massive invasion of privacy.

Since it was established six years ago the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes has provided unprecedented public access to secret files once held by the security apparatus of communist Czechoslovakia. But it's been a troubled institution, under constant political pressure and plagued by in-fighting. And now it's in turmoil again, after the latest director was sacked.

The drawn-out Czech-Polish dispute over the quality of food imports this week reached a new level after Polish officials accused the Czech authorities and media of waging a campaign aimed at hurting Polish food sales in the country.