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Czech sport has had a pretty good year: a singles finalist at Wimbledon, gold medals in world and European rowing events as well as an ice hockey world title and surprise silver medal at the women’s world basketball championship hosted by the country. But there was little real suspense about who the sport’s personality for 2010 would be: speed skater Martina Sáblíková.

The run-up to Christmas used to be a hectic time in most Czech households with cleaning, baking and decorating starting in late November. Now things are changing – many Czechs have come to appreciate the luxury of taking it easy and letting professionals bake their cookies, deliver their Christmas tree and decorate their house.

The Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, under new management after years of discord, has appointed the world-class conductor and native Czech Jiří Bělohlávek to be its chief conductor when the current maestro, Eliahu Inbal, steps down in 2012. The choice has been widely applauded, with Mr Bělohlávek seen as just the thing to bring the national philharmonic into the future and out into the world. Earlier I spoke by phone with Jaroslav Pondělíček of the orchestra’s artistic board, who told me how Jiří Bělohlávek could succeed where others could not.

The centre-right coalition government weathered its first serious crisis on Tuesday surviving a no-confidence motion tabled by the opposition in the wake of a massive corruption scandal at the Environment Ministry. Although the ruling parties opposed the no-confidence motion as one man, the scandal has further undermined coalition unity and tarnished the image of a government that has upheld a strict anti-corruption stance.

The Czech Republic’s oldest prisoner, Ludmila Brožová-Polednová, received a full pardon from President Václav Klaus on Tuesday and was promptly released from prison, bringing a definitive end to one of the most controversial justice cases in the post-revolution Czech Republic. The 89-year-old communist era prosecutor ultimately served one year and seven months of a six-year sentence for her part in the 1950 state execution of democratic politician Milada Horáková, and remained defiant even as she left the prison gates.

The key to the survival of the Czech coalition government was a deal between the coalition parties brokered by President Václav Klaus at Prague Castle. No details of the last-minute accord have been released but it apparently involves the demise of the police president, Oldřich Martinů, which has already materialized, as well as the reinstatement of whistleblower, Libor Michálek, to the State Environment Fund, where the corruption scandal broke out. Whatever the details, the agreement was enough for the MPs of the junior coalition party, Public

A police crackdown on underage drinking at the early-December holiday of Mikuláš was revealed this week to have been disconcertingly successful. The four-day raid on nearly four thousand bars and restaurants found some 600 intoxicated teens and over 400 infractions of alcohol sales to minors. The finding brings new emphasis to the government’s anti-drug and alcohol strategy, as the director of the government board for drug policy, Jindřich Vobořil, told us when he spoke to Radio Prague about the situation with earlier today.

The centre-right Czech government is going through its first major crisis since it took office in July. The coalition cabinet is facing a vote of no confidence over a corruption scandal at the Environment Ministry. Ahead of the vote, one of the coalition parties, Public Affairs, refused to pledge support for the cabinet, and walked out of Monday’s talks with its partners in the power-sharing deal. In a last-minute attempt to ensure backing for the government in the lower house, President Václav Klaus weighed in and met with coalition leaders.

Professionals in the Czech film industry have put together a new Film Canon of both domestic and international productions to be used as a teaching aid in Czech elementary and secondary schools. The choice of top films includes both Czech and world classics from Juraj Herz’s Spalovač Mrtvol (The Cremator) to Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction.

The head of Germany’s biggest and most important region, Bavaria, is making a landmark visit to the Czech Republic. The two-day trip by minister president Horst Seehofer is the first ever being made by a Bavarian premier to its neighbour since the end of WWII. While relations have been complicated by recent history, this visit is putting the accent on the present and future.