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Plans by the government to increase the number of Czech soldiers in Afghanistan next year have come under fire from the opposition benches. At the weekend, both the Communists and the Social Democrats said they would not back the proposal under any circumstances.

EU leaders met late last week to develop a European strategy to combat the global financial crisis, and the Czech Republic too is set to tighten its belt in many key areas. Dominik Jun spoke with economist Tomáš Sedláček and began by asking him whether recent comments by Finance Minister Miroslav Kalousek that the county was in fact an “oasis” protected from the current crisis were true:

The Czech national airline ČSA is celebrating its 85th birthday this Monday. Today, the carrier flies to destinations spanning from Athens to Zagreb, and ranks amongst the Czech state’s most valuable assets, but what about back when it first began? Company spokesperson Daniela Hupáková describes the airline’s humble beginnings:

In almost exactly a month’s time, US voters go to the polls in one of the most keenly watched presidential elections in decades. There are an estimated six million Americans living outside the US and – with the two main candidates very close in the polls – their votes could well have an impact on November 4th. To get a flavour of how things look to US voters in this part of the world, I met up with Roger Johnson, chairman of Republicans Abroad in the Czech Republic, and Creag Hayes, chairman of Democrats Abroad in the Czech Republic.

Forests in the Czech Republic will undergo some profound changes following the adoption of a new National Forest Programme by the government on Wednesday. The plan seeks to change the composition of forests, introduce different kinds of trees and even limit the numbers of game –all in the interest of making forests healthier. After years of disagreements, environmentalists, hunters and forestry experts have finally reached agreement on what needs to be done.

A 21-member Czech patrol came under fire in the province of Logar in Afghanistan on Wednesday, an attack that left a number of their assailants dead and seven Czech soldiers injured, one of them seriously. The Czech convoy came under attack around four kilometres from the Shank base, the same day that the government approved a plan to increase the number of Czech personnel in the Afghan mission in 2009.

Adolf Loos was one of the pioneers of European Modern architecture in the early 20th century. A German speaker born in Brno, Loos carried out a lot of his most important projects in Vienna. However, the Czech Republic can also boast buildings by the architect, including the renowned Villa Muller in Prague. Loos’s work in this country is the subject of a new exhibition which has just opened in the Czech capital.

Illegal car races have become increasingly popular on Czech roads. While wealthy drivers in expensive sports cars speed through the country, high on adrenalin, the Czech police have come under criticism for being unable to bring illegal racing under control.

Gas prices went up Wednesday by an average of 10.4%, with ordinary Czechs expected to pay as much as a thousand crowns extra on energy annually. The main reason given for the rise by the country’s gas companies is a rise in energy prices across the world. However, most families appear to be offsetting rising costs with reduced demand. In fact, Czechs are heating their homes far less than they did a decade and a half ago. DJ reports:

If you stumble across a little brass plaque on a walk in Prague’s Old Town next week, then the chances are it is going to be a ‘kámen zmizelého’ (‘stone of the vanished’). The project, organized by the Czech Union of Jewish Students, will eventually see stones commemorating victims of the Holocaust embedded in pavements all over the capital. The idea comes from Germany, as does the man making the memorials, Gunter Demnig. But the project coordinator at the Czech end is Petr Mandl. I met him on Wednesday morning to ask first about the name of the