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A meeting between government coalition leaders on Monday failed to produce conclusive results on how the government will offset falling tax revenues. But two variants, narrowed down, are on the table: to introduce new spending cuts at most government ministries as well as in some social benefits to bring the public finance deficit down to 3.5 percent of GDP in 2012. Or, alternatively, to raise the VAT to a uniform 19 percent (with minimal exemptions on books, medicines, newspapers & magazines).

It was a wake-up call for the Czech traffic police: a Czech tourist bus in Austria was found to be driving minus one wheel. The story made headlines in both countries and the Czech authorities finally turned their attention to a nagging problem: the poor technical state of many Czech buses.

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has criticized the Czech government for reduced military spending. According to media reports, the NATO chief sent Prime Minister Petr Nečas a letter warning that his government might not be able to fulfil its commitments to the alliance should these cuts continue in the coming years.

As the coalition government moves to push a badly needed overhaul of the pension system through the lower house, fresh clouds have appeared on the horizon. It has emerged that the Czech Republic may have to pay Slovak pensioners who worked in Czech firms during the 73 years of a common state financial contributions to the tune of billions of crowns.

For the third year in a row now, the French Bastille Day on July 14th is celebrated with an open-air food market on Prague’s Kampa island. The stalls offer a wide variety of French wines, cheeses, meats and other delicacies to an increasingly interested Czech public.

In its 6th year, the Bohemia Jazz Festival brings world-class jazz musicians not only to Prague, but another six cities across the country. Organized by jazz musician Rudy Linka, the festival is held outdoors at town squares and traditionally free of charge. Jazz guitarist and organizer Rudy Linka talks about Wednesday's line-up ahead of the second night of concerts in Prague.

The lower house of Parliament is now debating the latest of the government’s comprehensive reform measures, this time dealing with health care. No criticism has been spared on this round of bills, which cover standard, special and emergency medical services, and more modifications to it are sure to come. Even so, a more definitive picture of health care reform is taking shape; Christian Falvey looks at what it entails.

On Tuesday, the public broadcaster Czech TV is airing the first part of a new documentary series dedicated to Originální videojournal, a unique video magazine established by Czech dissidents in the late 1980s. The documentary offers some rare footage from dissident circles, as well as reports about the Velvet Revolution in November 1989.

The Czech Republic’s leading Roma advocacy group, Romea, has announced they are suspending their collaboration with the Ministry of the Interior, saying their relationship and the ministry’s work in combating right-wing extremism has taken a sharp turn for the worse. Citing the approach of the police towards extremist demonstrations this year, the ministry’s cancellation of a multilateral task force and other issues, Romea says further cooperation between them will depend on how numerous missteps will be redressed.

This Tuesday marks the 40th anniversary of the opening of the first section of the Czech Republic's busiest highway, the D1. However, the road - which sees scores of fatal accidents every year - is in a poor state of repair and will have to undergo massive reconstruction over the coming decade. As the D1 is the country's main East-West motorway, diverting traffic in that period will cause huge logistical headaches, and serious safety risks. I discussed the problems that lie ahead with road safety expert Robert Šťastný.