Prague City Beat

No matter how much you despise chlebíčeks, it seems a little extreme to brand a reception marking Czechoslovak Independence Day a “counter-revolutionary event.”
Thanks mainly to Václav Havel’s efforts, though, Havana seems to regard all things Czech with suspicion – especially when Cuban dissidents are involved – and did just that over the weekend.
After the Castro [...]

Assuming you can set aside fears of bird flu, earthquakes and food poisoning, and actually leave the house, it should be a three-day weekend to cherish, with temperatures reaching an unseasonably high 17 degrees C (62 degrees F). (Which itself is probably something to worry about.)
I’m also duty bound to remind you that Prague TV’s [...]

On behalf of City Beat, I’d like to welcome Prague-based writer, editor and journalist

What goes up…
It would’ve seemed unthinkable a few years ago, when finding a Prague flat was a bit like searching for the Ark of the Covenant, but house prices and rents are both, according to recent studies, either falling or stagnating.

British Foreign Minister Jack Straw is expected to announce the closure of the BBC World Service’s Czech Section today, as part of savings needed to fund an Arabic-language TV channel.
According to a source quoted by ČTK, the axe could fall “before Christmas or in January.”
At the moment, it’s unclear whether the World Service will [...]

The Czech Republic is about to be branded.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MZV) is holding a competition to find an official Czech Republic logo.
According to the MZV website, the logo “would serve as a unique and memorable symbol of the Czech Republic for the Czech state’s presentational and informational activity abroad (including trade fairs, exhibitions, [...]