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On November 17, Czech citizens will be able to travel to the United States without visas for the first time ever. Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek and US Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff announced in Prague on Monday that the Czech Republic, along with several other central and eastern European countries, has been included in the US Visa Waiver Program.

The Czech government has said that the country’s upcoming EU presidency has not been put in jeopardy by the plans of French President Nicolas Sarkozy. France’s head of state reportedly wants to increase the influence of the Eurogroup – a group of countries to which the Czech Republic does not belong, and which, during the Czech presidency, Mr Sarkozy himself would like to head. Czech officials have warned against the move, calling it 'divisive'.

A court in the city of Brno has sentenced six people to prison for their role in a child abuse case that has shocked and mystified the country. Two young boys were systematically abused in sadistic rituals, and the six defendants apparently belonged to a secretive cult, although the court fell short of recognising a cult-related motive.

The global financial crisis has not spared the Czech automobile industry and the majority of car makers have already announced price-cuts. Now the Czech Republic’s largest car manufacturer, Škoda Auto has been forced to do the same. The company announced a series of price reductions on Wednesday, the first since 1991, when Škoda Auto became part of the Volkswagen group. So what sort of discounts is Skoda offering? Jaroslav Černý is the company’s spokesman:

The centre-right government of Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek survived a vote of no-confidence in the lower house on Wednesday. The victory came only days after the coalition parties’ crushing defeat in regional elections, and some two months before the country is due to take up the rotating EU presidency.

Mirek Topolánek’s centre-right government may have emerged victorious from Wednesday’s no-confidence vote, but it’s not out of the woods yet. There is still the nasty prospect of potential defeat in this weekend’s Senate elections, and clouds gathering over the Czech Republic’s EU presidency, due to start in January next year. In the wake of the Civic Democrat’s triumph on Wednesday, I spoke to political analyst Jiří Pehe and asked how resounding this victory actually was:

Health care fees of 30, 60 and 90 crowns introduced earlier this year at Czech surgeries, hospitals, and emergency wards have remained a major issue among many Czechs and came to the forefront in last week’s regional elections. In the run-up to the vote, the Social Democrats – who trounced the ruling parties - promised to “abolish” fees for patients at regional hospitals by covering expenditures from regional coffers. But it turns out keeping that promise may not be such a good idea.

Emotions were running high in Parliament on Wednesday ahead of the no-confidence vote in Mirek Topolánek’s centre-right government. The government scored an important victory in the morning session, pushing through the 2009 draft state budget into a second reading. Following on from that initial victory, we spoke to Radio Prague’s Jan Richter, who has been following developments in Parliament:

In recent years medical tourism has become a real growth industry, with many travelling to former communist bloc states to take advantage of relatively affordable health care. The latest example of this is western Europeans getting treatment in the Czech Republic – for obesity.

Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek told German leader Angela Merkel during her visit to Prague on Monday that the Czech Republic could ratify the Lisbon treaty by the end of the year: before the beginning of the country’s EU presidency. But the odds are now against Mr Topolánek, for whom the Lisbon treaty is just one of many battles.