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Czech Foreign Karel Schwarzenberg has apologised for the publication of a transcript of a meeting last month between French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek. While some Czech officials have denied the authenticity of the record, the magazine Reflex, which printed the minutes, claims it an interesting insight into how power deals are struck.

The online property website bezrealitky.cz has come top of this year’s Czech internet awards, the Křišt´álové Lupy (‘Crystal Magnifying Glasses’). The website, which provides a forum for those buying and selling flats, cutting out the middle-man, was voted for by thousands of internet users, as well as a panel of experts. On Friday, I met two of the minds behind this new venture, Božena Zbranková and Jakub Havrlant. I first asked its creator, Jakub, whether it was a frustration with the property market in this country that made him set up the

Speculation is mounting that the Czech president and honorary chairman of the Civic Democrats may be about to turn his back on the party he once helped to create. The Civic Democrat-led government, under the leadership of Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek, is set to ratify the EU’s Lisbon Treaty, a document that consolidates the EU. This, along with other official government positions, is opposed by the Czech president. Now, it seems, he may have had enough.

Wednesday’s ruling by the Constitutional Court that the European Union's Lisbon Treaty does not violate the Czech constitution has been welcomed and scorned from the two sides of the Lisbon debate. So what next for Czech ratification and the treaty itself? Radio Prague spoke to Roman Joch, director of the conservative think-tank the Civic Institute.

After the Constitutional Court ruled on Wednesday that the Lisbon treaty was in line with the Czech constitution, ratification of the key document in the Czech Republic is arguably back on track. But even so, ratifying the treaty may not be easy. Opponents who fear the document erodes national sovereignty and cedes too much power to Brussels, have indicated they will do everything in their power to stop it from being passed. Supporters, meanwhile, would like to see the document ratified as soon as possible, preferably before the Czech Republic

A team of Czech experts are currently in Vietnam to plan one of the biggest clean-up operations in the Southeast Asian country’s history. The Czech Development Agency has been awarded millions of crowns by the government to decontaminate some of the areas worst polluted by the highly toxic herbicide Agent Orange during the Vietnam War. Michal Procházka is from the development agency and overseeing the clean-up. I spoke to him earlier today and asked first about the sort of problems Agent Orange was causing in the north of the country where the

The Czech Republic is now beginning to be more affected by the world financial crisis. After a number of industrial companies announced cutting thousands of jobs, the government has, for the first time, admitted taking action to help the economy.

Supporters of the EU’s Lisbon Treaty were given cause for celebration on Wednesday morning as the Constitutional Court ruled that the treaty does not violate the Czech Constitution. This landmark ruling paves the way for the Czech parliament to begin the process of ratifying the treaty. The Czech Republic is the only EU member which has not voted on Lisbon, amid a dispute over sovereignty that has pitted the government against president Václav Klaus. But Mr Klaus isn’t giving up yet.

In the first verdict of its kind in this country, a court has ruled that Support Lesbiens’ 2002 hit ‘In Da Yard’ plagiarised a song written by singer Jan Kalousek nearly a decade earlier. Support Lesbiens – one of the biggest bands in this country – say that they are dismayed by the verdict, but that the song in question will continue to be played.

The Postal Museum in Prague is celebrating its 90th anniversary. The museum, which was founded very soon after the establishment of Czechoslovakia, has just launched a special exhibition focused on some of the highlights of its history.