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Top Czech officials have engaged in an unusually strong exchange of insults over the government’s refusal to join the European Union’s new fiscal treaty. Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg, Prime Minister Petr Nečas and President Václav Klaus engaged in a crossfire which has put more strain on the fragile coalition government, and which illustrates the deep divisions between the major Czech political forces in their stance on European integration.

With temperatures in Prague expected to drop as low as minus 20 degrees in the coming days, the Czech capital’s homeless are at high risk. Due to the harsh weather, homeless shelters are already close to operating at full capacity. To help battle deaths from exposure city hall officials have arranged for a large heated tent to be put up for those with no roof over their heads.

Internet banking, online shopping, google searches – the internet has made our life much more convenient. And despite the fact that it is a highly visual medium, blind people, too, are increasingly taking advantage of the internet. But how do they perceive it and what are some of the difficulties of mastering the World Wide Web for those without eyesight?

The Czech government has refused to join the European Union’s planned fiscal compact which paves the way for a closer coordination of fiscal policies within the bloc. At an EU summit in Brussels on Tuesday, Czech Prime Minister Petr Nečas cited “ratification issues” as the main reason why the country will stay out of the pact, as the only EU member state besides the UK. The Czech refusal has already caused a stir on the domestic scene as Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg said the move would harm the Czech Republic’s interests. Jan Czech Radio’s

After much controversy at home on whether the Czech Republic should join the euro-zone’s emerging fiscal compact, the Czech government delegation headed for Monday’s key EU summit in Brussels determined to keep its options open. In the midst of continuing discord on the subject, there is just one thing Czech politicians heartily agree on – they want to have a finger in the pie.

A ruling on Thursday by a Prague court might lead to a breakthrough in the ongoing Czech debate about home births. While state officials and health care providers have consistently opposed the practice over safety concerns, the court decided that mothers indeed have the right to choose the place of their child’s delivery, and the state has to provide all necessary assistance.

Latin once used to be the cornerstone of classical education. Until the middle of the 20th century, some knowledge of the language was a prerequisite for any career in the academia, and Latin was taught at every grammar school. But the numbers of students taking up the language has dropped by a half over the past decade. That’s why a group of Latin teachers launched a campaign to revive the teaching of Latin at Czech schools.

Firefighters in the Czech Republic are greatly concerned at the course their budgets are taking. As the money from the Ministry of the Interior steadily decreases, the firemen’s union warns that further cuts may lead to substandard services.

Czech government leaders on Wednesday agreed on the sum that the country would contribute to the European debt crisis scheme. Coalition leaders backed Finance Minister Miroslav Kalousek’s proposal to loan 38 billion Czech crowns, about 1.5 billion euros, to the International Monetary Fund – an amount that is significantly lower than the 90 billion Czech crowns EU leaders had originally requested Prague commit to at a crisis summit in Brussels last month.

With snow in mountainous areas and resorts in the Czech Republic averaging 140 centimetres, it’s no surprise locals have been hitting the trails on their snowmobiles in recent days and weeks. The number of skidoos on Czech trails has only continued to grow in recent years and with increased traffic have come greater concerns and greater risk – one reason why officials from the country’s Road Transport Services Centre conducted checks in the area of Špindlerův Mlýn last week.