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The long-vacant post of Minister of Education, Youth and Sports has been taken up by Petr Fiala, political scientist and former chancellor of Masaryk University in Brno. Currently the science advisor to the prime minister and a political independent, Dr Fiala has been roundly praised as an excellent choice to lead a ministry facing an exceptional number of hurdles.

Two massive wooden boxes, each weighing over 300 kilograms – that was what the botanist and pharmacologist Bohuslav Jiruš left the National Museum in his will some 100 years ago. The humungous mystery crates came with one instruction: They should not be opened until 200 years after Jiruš’s death –the year 2101. Now, the National Museum has published the surprising result of its vote on whether its researchers should be allowed to take a peak inside with computed tomography.

The Czech government has survived a vote of confidence in the lower house of Parliament. On Friday, 105 out of 198 deputies voted in its support. The vote revealed that besides the Civic Democrat and TOP 09 parties, the cabinet can also rely on those deputies who quit the Public Affairs party, and at least three MPs who remained members of the former junior coalition partner, which now sees itself as “constructive opposition”. But despite the safe majority in the lower house, the centre-right cabinet might now find it harder to push through some

Addressing the lower house ahead of a confidence vote in his centre right government on Friday Prime Minister Petr Necas asked deputies for support in the interest of pressing ahead with key reforms which would lead to stability and prosperity in the future. Professor Vladimira Dvorakova says that before this objective can be achieved –by this government or any other – the country will need to deal with its biggest problem: corruption and a lack of political ethics.

The University of California, Berkeley is one of 11 American universities where students can study Czech language, literature and culture. Small but dedicated groups of students grapple with the challenges of Czech grammar and pronunciation in up to three classes per week. Despite budget cuts throughout all departments of public universities in California, Czech, a niche central European language, still has its place at the Department of Slavic Languages and maintains enthusiasm amongst those eager to learn it.

Just two years ago the name Karolína Peake was known to few people outside of the issue of playgrounds in Prague 1. Today she’s the keystone in the fractured coalition government. Last week, the 36-year-old deputy prime minister caused an upheaval in the government when she abandoned the junior coalition party Public Affairs, of which she has been a member since 2007, and took eight of the party’s MPs with her. The result of the split has been the departure of Public Affairs from government to the opposition, and a wafer-thin majority in Parliament

The legendary band Pražský výběr – one of the most influential bands from the Czech New Wave – are back. Recently the group, led by frontman Michael Kocáb announced they would put aside past differences and reunite for a series of concerts in the autumn.

Czech trade unions have decided that their show of force in mass demonstrations needs muscle. The Czech-Moravian Confederation of Trade Unions says that tripartite negotiations with the government are over and it’s time for a new protest which, as their chairman Jaroslav Zavadil said, is going to hurt.

Although opinion polls indicate that the vast majority of Czechs would like to see early elections, embattled Prime Minister Petr Nečas has decided to try and weather the latest crisis and will ask the lower house for a vote of confidence in his government on Friday. Amidst speculation that he may end up with a razor sharp majority, political analysts are questioning the wisdom of trying to hold onto power at any cost. Radio Prague spoke to Jiři Pehe about the repercussions this might have but - first and foremost - the legitimacy of this new political

The ruling coalition that won an unprecedented majority in the last elections is a thing of the past. On Tuesday, the Public Affairs party, decimated by the recent departure of a number of former members, left the government. The centre-right cabinet now faces a vote of confidence to test the strength of its support in the lower house.