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Recently the papers here have been full of alarming reports concerning listeria infection in the Czech Republic. So far this year, there have been a number of highly publicised cases of poisoning with the listeria bacteria, which is often found in certain types of readymade salads and ripe cheeses.

The disruption of oil supplies to Poland and Germany due to Russia's closure of a pipeline after of a price dispute with Belarus has sent shockwaves through Europe. Although immediate supplies to countries like the Czech Republic are not under threat, the situation has once again raised uncomfortable questions about Europe and the Czech Republic's increasing reliance on Russia as an energy supplier.

Two beer brands both lay claim to the name Budweiser. For decades, an American company, Anheuser-Busch, has been locked in fierce legal battles with a Czech company, Budvar, over who makes the real Budweiser beer. On Monday the two breweries announced a surprise agreement.

On Tuesday politicians, dignitaries and journalists gathered at Prague Castle to witness yet another change of guard. At midday on Tuesday President Vaclav Klaus appointed a new centre-right government made up of the Civic Democrats, the Christian Democrats and the Green Party.

Under fire from the president and his party colleagues, the Civic Democratic Party leader Mirek Topolanek is now fighting for political survival. To make matters worse he faces a serious domestic crisis. Following months of speculation regarding his relationship with Lucie Talmanova, a deputy for his own party, the prime minister finally announced at the end of last week that he was leaving his wife for his mistress.

Faced with the task of having to appoint a government he does not approve of, President Klaus on Monday sharply criticized the Civic Democrat party he founded in 1991 and of which he is honorary chairman to this day. In an interview for the weekly Tyden he suggested the time may have come for the birth of a new party which would better represent right-wing voters.

Poland was rocked to its foundations this weekend, when the newly-appointed Archbishop of Warsaw Stanislaw Wielgus was forced to resign after admitting he knowingly collaborated with the communist secret police. Poland is of course a staunchly Catholic nation, but the shockwaves of the Wielgus case can be felt throughout the former communist bloc.

The number of traffic deaths on Czech roads in 2006 dipped below 1,000, for the first time in 16 years, according to preliminary statistics released by the Czech Ministry of Transport. Police and politicians say this decline is due to the introduction last year of a so-called "points system", penalizing drivers who break the law by putting "points" on their record.

Thirty years ago this month a group of people decided to voice their opposition to the Communist regime of Czechoslovakia with a human rights manifesto known as Charter 77. Its signatories made the decision fully aware of the consequences. Personalities like Vaclav Havel who later became president, Petr Uhl who became human rights commissioner, and Jiri Dienstbier who served as foreign minister all served prison sentences under Communist Czechoslovakia. But the stories of the numerous women who were among this courageous group of people have yet

Seven months ago Mirek Topolanek was the toast of the right wing Civic Democratic Party. The man who led his party to six election victories had triumphed in the elections and after eight long years in the opposition benches his Civic Democrats were ready to take over the reigns of power. Seven long months later the country lacks a stable government, the prime minister is seen as a failure and his party is racked by internal conflict.