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After more than ten years, Czechs can once again look forward to a visit by the Pope. Czech Cardinal Miroslav Vlk has confirmed that Pope Benedict XVI is going to spend up to three days in the country at the end of September. Benedict’s predecessor, Pope John Paul II, visited the Czech Republic altogether three times; the last visit taking place in 1997. I spoke to Jiří Gračka of the Czech Bishop’s Conference, who initiated Pope Benedict’s visit:

The EU's Labour and Social Affairs ministers have been meeting in the Moravian spa town of Luhačovice to discuss further liberalisation of Europe's labour market. That continues to be something of a thorny issue, as citizens from the 10 countries that joined in 2004 - including the Czech Republic - still can't work everywhere in the EU. The meeting, chaired by Czech minister Petr Nečas, is aimed at persuading those countries that still restrict their labour markets - chiefly Germany and Austria - to lift those restrictions sooner rather than later.

David Černý, the author of the controversial artwork Entropa unveiled by the Czech EU presidency last week in Brussels, has agreed to give the government back the money he received for the work. Meanwhile, an internet petition has been started in Bulgaria protesting against the Bulgarian part of the mosaic having been covered up.

The former Czech president Václav Havel who is in hospital with a lung inflammation is reported to have made some progress on the road to recovery. However he remains in intensive care and doctors have been warning that the seventy-two year-old’s health is still fragile.

A Renaissance mystery is beginning to unravel in Prague. A team of experts from Denmark have asked the authorities for permission to open and explore the grave of the Danish-born astronomer Tycho Brahe who died in Prague in 1601. They are hoping to learn more about one of the most famous scholars of the time – and perhaps to throw more light on his mysterious death.

The Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg has said he would welcome Russia’s involvement in the U.S. missile defence shield, part of which could be based in the Czech Republic if the Obama administration proceeds with the plan. That of course is still open to question, with signals coming from Washington that the new president intends to “review” the plan, which is deeply opposed by Russia.

Despairing students often say that Czech is a particularly difficult language to learn, and even Czechs themselves have problems with it. Last year, the Ústav pro jazyk český received over 9000 emails from Czechs unsure about their spelling and grammar. Now, the organisation has launched the first online Czech handbook to help users sort their s’s from their z’s. I met the head of the Ústav pro jazyk český, Karel Oliva, to ask him whether it was exasperation which drove him to publish a grammar online:

Temperatures in the Czech Republic have risen above 0 for the first time in weeks, and while that’s good news for most of us, for the homeless slightly warmer weather could mean the difference between life and death. So far this winter, over 20 people – most of them homeless – have died as a consequence of freezing weather. Although there is no official data available, the numbers are definitely higher than in the last couple of years. Are the authorities doing enough to deal with the problem?

The government approved a plan on Monday to sell its ninety-percent stake in the national carrier Czech Airlines by September 30. The cabinet said the buyer would be chosen in a two-round tender, with several buyers already expressing interest. The government also wants to privatise Prague’s Ruzyně international airport by 2010.

This Tuesday Barack Obama is sworn in as the 44th president of the United States of America. Mr Obama takes his oath of office in front of a huge crowd in Washington and millions and millions of people around the rest of the world. Excitement has been building ahead of the Obama presidency in Europe as well as the US, with the Czech Republic proving no exception. A recent STEM poll found Mr Obama Czechs’ favourite foreign politician by a margin of nearly 20 percent. But when it comes down to it, what do Czechs actually expect of America’s new leader?