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The price of crude oil hit an all-time high on Wednesday when a barrel sold for 100 US dollars. The conflict in Nigeria, low oil reserves in the United States, and a growing demand in China and India appear to be the major factors that pushed the oil price past the milestone many deemed unsurpassable 12 months ago. What impact will the soaring oil prices could have on the Czech economy?

There is no love lost between Czech President Václav Klaus and Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek, but at their traditional New Year’s lunch on Wednesday they put their differences aside and showed journalists a united front. Political analysts perceive this show of mutual support as an indication that the Civic Democrats are prepared to go to great lengths to secure President Klaus’ re-election in the February presidential elections.

Last June, a group of artists called Ztohoven hijacked a Czech Television programme to broadcast images of a nuclear bomb going off on a peaceful Czech hillside. The mock explosion may have been and gone in a flash, but the fallout has far from disappeared. Last month, Ztohoven won an award from the Czech National Gallery for the work. On Wednesday, State Attorney Dušan Ondráček said that he had brought charges against the group.

The new year will radically affect the lives of ordinary Czechs. The reform package of Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek's centre-right cabinet has introduced far-reaching cost-cutting measures intended to curb the country’s steep deficit in public finances. In short: the prices of nearly all products and services have gone up while, to make up for it, income taxes have gone down.

President Vaclav Klaus made his fifth New Year’s speech on Tuesday - the last of his term in office. The president, who is seeking re-election next month, reflected upon his first term, as well as the Czech Republic’s recent history, and current economic success. Political analysts reacted to Mr Klaus’s speech by calling it cautious, crueller tongues called it bland.

The Darwin Awards are given for astoundingly stupid judgement leading to self destruction. Named in honour of Charles Darwin, the father of evolution, the awards commemorate those who improve our gene pool by removing themselves from it.

The assassination of Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto on Thursday sent shockwaves around the world and raised widespread concern for the fate of democracy in the country. Daniela Lazarova sums up the reactions in Prague.

New mobile phones will no doubt be turning up in many people’s stockings this Christmas. But what becomes of old mobile phones, once people acquire a snazzy new model? One agency in the Czech Republic says Czechs have five to eight million old mobiles gathering dust at home – devices they hold on to for sentimental reasons when they really ought to be recycled.

The head of the Czech communist party Vojtech Filip and communist MEP Miloslav Randsorf have contributed financially to a planned memorial to Milada Horakova, a Czech politician executed by the Czechoslovak communist regime in 1950. The corner stone of the monument was laid on Tuesday near Prague’s Pankrac prison where Milada Horakova and other political prisoners were executed.

This year’s World Under-20 Ice Hockey Championship got underway in Pardubice, East Bohemia on Wednesday, with the Czechs hoping for a strong tournament on home turf. Last year they finished a disappointing fifth and fans – who have helped sell out the 10,000+ Cez Arena in Pardubice – are hoping this year they’ll finish at least two better. But it won’t be easy. On Wednesday the Czechs got off to a losing start: despite a strong performance in their opener, they were beaten by three-time defending champions, Canada. The final score was 3:0.