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Corruption allegations against the junior member of the governing coalition, Public Affairs, are threatening to further unbalance a government that has seen its share of scandals over the past months. Public Affairs’ deputy chairman Jaroslav Škárka was dismissed from the self-styled anti-corruption party on Tuesday, after his claims that he was getting paid to ensure his silence on the party’s financial dealings became public. His allegations against party leader and transport minister Vít Bárta have unfurled speculation whether or not the government

The Public Affairs party expelled one of its top members on Tuesday evening, deputy chairman Jaroslav Škárka, after he had told the press that the party was paying him under the table to ensure his silence on financial dealings. If true, such accusations could ruin the self-styled anti-corruption party, and whether true or not, they further unbalance a coalition government already beleaguered by scandals. Christian Falvey has a rundown of the events of the last few days.

Prague’s famous astronomical clock known as the Orloj, dating back to 1410 and gracing the tower of the Old Town Hall, is one of the city’s biggest attractions, drawing crowds on the hour every single day. The chimes and a famous procession of apostles (moving sculptures) in the clock’s windows, are a must for any visitor, and are no doubt the subject of countless youtube videos and family photos. But anyone visiting on the Old Town Square these days has been less than lucky and won’t see the famous clock in operation: on Monday it was turned off

Minority and human rights groups in the Czech Republic have sent an open letter to Education Minister Josef Dobeš over his decision to appoint a controversial ultra-conservative politician as an advisor. Ladislav Bátora once stood as an independent candidate for the now-defunct far-right National Party, and is now head of the Eurosceptic movement DOST.

Police trades unions leaders are set to meet Prime Minister Petr Nečas later on Tuesday to ask him to replace Interior Minister Radek John. More than a half of Czech police officers, along with thousands of fire fighters and civilian security forces employees, have signed a petition demanding Mr John’s resignation. They blame the minister for failing to prevent higher cuts in their salaries than he initially promised.

According to a recent poll conducted by the SANEP agency, nearly three in four Czechs are against the introduction of the euro. Nearly half of the respondents even say they would vote against joining the EU today – a big shift from the result of the 2003 referendum, when 77 percent of the country’s population voted in favor. David Král, director of the Czech think tank Europeum, speaks about the connection between the financial crisis and growing reservations towards the EU, and whether or not he found the result surprising.

The Czech Constitutional Court has invalidated a law that forces operators to retain data on telephone calls and Internet traffic on the grounds that it violates people’s right to privacy. In a highly anticipated ruling on Thursday, the court said that the provision ordering data on all calls, faxes, text messages and e-mail exchanges to be retained for six months was unconstitutional since it enabled a "massive" invasion into citizens' rights and was not in line with the rule of law.

The Šumava National Park – a protected nature reserve in southern Bohemia –is at the centre of a row between scientists, environmental activists and the park’s new management. The park’s new director, former prime minister Jan Stráský, is proposing a radical remedy for the parks bark-beetle infestation problem –a combination of logging and effective insecticides. Critics are up in arms saying the proposed strategy would do irreversible harm to the valuable ecosystems and biotopes in the nature reserve and lower the non-intervention areas in the

On Wednesday, President Václav Klaus issued an official pardon to a man serving a six-year prison sentence for attempted murder. The case of Karel Bašta, who shot at thieves escaping his property, seriously injuring one of them, was recently addressed by the Supreme Court, which upheld the stiff sentence by ruling that in similar cases killing a thief in defence of property needed to be assessed as murder – not manslaughter. By granting a pardon, the president has brought the case to a surprising conclusion, one that the convicted man himself could

The Czech Constitutional Court dismissed on Tuesday a complaint by three political parties contesting last October’s local elections in the capital. Public Affairs, the Green and the European Democrat parties argued the elections were unfair due to gerrymandering, dividing Prague into seven districts, which diminished their prospects at the polls. The court said however the parties failed to prove the division was intended to hurt their chances.