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Over two weeks after Haiti was hit by a devastating earthquake, the situation in the country remains one of the world’s biggest news stories, with aid organisations and soldiers struggling to distribute food, water and medical care to many hundreds of thousands of people who have been left homeless. Czech Radio journalist Pavel Polák arrived in Haiti four days after the earthquake and reported on the situation there for over a week. After his return to Prague, I spoke to Polák about his experiences.

President Vaclav Klaus has stepped in to stop mandatory vaccination of Czech soldiers against swine flu, telling Army staff the order to vaccinate all 16,000 soldiers was “highly controversial, if not unacceptable.” Mr Klaus – formally commander-in-chief of the Czech Armed Forces – announced in a statement on Wednesday that he’d asked the Defence Ministry to make vaccination voluntary. The ministry, it seems, has jumped to attention.

As of Tuesday, the Czech Republic boasts new air navigation technology that will give the country’s aviation an edge over neighboring Germany and Poland. The newly acquired 3D tower simulator is capable of creating various weather conditions, day or night time work situations as well as simulating the towers of all international airports. This state-of-the-art technology will now be used to train future navigators. Miroslav Ehl of the Czech Air Navigation Services explains what makes this device so unique.

The Communist Youth Union got a new lease on life this week after a court cancelled a ban on the organization issued by the Czech Interior Ministry. Falling in line with a previous ruling of the country’s Supreme Administrative Court on the issue, the judges sent the case back to the ministry which should again deliberate whether the far-left group represents a real threat to democracy.

Some of the original signatories of the human rights appeal Charter 77 have called on Czech politicians and academics to nominate the Chinese human rights initiative Charter 08 for this year’s Nobel Peace Prize. Charter 08 was originally signed by more than 300 people, including the human rights activist Liu Xiaobo, who’s been sentenced to 11 years in prison for his involvement.

An increasing number of Czech firms are moving offshore. According to statistics compiled by a Prague-based business information provider, 2009 saw more than 2000 Czech companies register in some of the world’s most popular tax havens, 24 percent more than the previous year.

The Czech Republic has been gripped by a bout of severe cold. On Tuesday night, temperatures in some parts of the country dropped to a record low of -30 degrees Celsius. The near-Arctic weather which has gripped most of Europe is the result of a cold front from Siberia. While most people are keeping indoors to avoid catching a cold or slipping on an icy pavement, there are some who hope temperatures will drop as low as possible.

Modernisation plans for the Czech Republic’s biggest coal-fired power plant have become a very hot topic indeed. So much so, that the Ministry of Environment has sidestepped mounting pressure on it to make a decision by calling in international consultants.

A delegation from the global financial and economic watchdog, the International Monetary Fund, has delivered a mixed message to the Czech Republic. The good news is that the economic crisis appears to be over. The bad news comes in a clear warning that the next government must act to curb a ballooning public deficit and debt burden and start other reforms or face the consequences.

Later this year, ABL FM services, a company in charge of a number of Prague’s historic sites, will re-open the bell tower on St Nicholas’ Church, where 20 years ago the Communist-era secret police, the StB, kept a hidden lookout. The cubby-hole with views of Prague’s Malá strana district was used to above all monitor activities outside nearby embassies, especially that of the US.