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The Health Ministry has released the first comprehensive plan for new reforms in psychiatry. The ministry is planning to decentralize psychiatric care and individualize the approach of mental health professionals. Critics, though, are worried that the planned changes will result in more patients falling through the cracks.

The ruling Civic Democrats have, for the first time since forming the current coalition, begun to change tack on austerity. The once dominant right-of-centre party, which has taken a hammering in opinion polls, wants to lower taxes for employed pensioners as well as offer new tax write-offs for companies. The plan, however, puts the party at odds with coalition members TOP 09, in charge of the Finance Ministry.

President Miloš Zeman is pressing for the wife of his predecessor Václav Klaus to be named the Czech Republic’s ambassador to Slovakia. However, Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg – who Mr. Zeman beat to become head of state – is opposed to the appointment of Livia Klausová; he says the idea looks like payback for the former first lady’s support for Miloš Zeman during the presidential campaign.

With the number of young marihuana users falling in the Czech Republic, the government has found a new target for its anti-drugs strategy: underage drinking, in which young Czechs top European statistics. But a new action plan unveiled on Wednesday contains a novel element – a proposal to introduce a substitute therapy aimed at weaning people off increasingly popular methamphetamines. I discussed the fresh action plan with the national anti-drug coordinator, Jindřich Vobořil.

The Constitutional Court has thrown out treason charges against former President Václav Klaus, saying there were no grounds to consider the case chiefly because he is no longer president. The decision to ask the Court to impeach Mr Klaus for treason in his final days in office cast a shadow on his presidency, and highlighted the deep divisions in Czech society.

The Prague City Council has approved a revitalization plan for the capital’s Old Town Square that includes the installation of a replica of a Marian column that stood on the square for over 250 years until it was torn down in 1918. Many consider the column a symbol of oppression, but its supporters, who have campaigned for its return for over 20 years, have found a strong ally in the current mayor.

When a smart card system was introduced in Prague in the mid 2000s to serve for public transport and other amenities, it may have seemed like one more step in the city’s transformation into a modern metropolis. However, more or less from the off the Opencard has been dogged by controversy and allegations of corruption. Now, in the latest, murky twist, almost the entire city council are facing criminal charges in connection with the system.

The Václav Havel award for human rights has been established in Prague in memory of the late Czech president, dissident playwright and human rights advocate. The prize, which will reward activities in defence of human rights around the world, will be first handed out this autumn by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe along with the Václav Havel Library and the Charta 77 Foundation.

A three-day emergency drill has begun at the Dukovany nuclear power plant in southern Moravia – testing the readiness of employees and making sure emergency procedures in place are properly followed. The drill is one of the biggest in recent memory.

While their 22 percent showing in the last parliamentary elections was enough to put the Civic Democrats at the head of a coalition government, it was still their worst result ever. Today things look even grimmer for the long-term dominant force on the Czech right, with one recent poll suggesting their support stands at a meagre 9 percent. With parliamentary, Senate, European and local elections all due next year, Petr Nečas’s party are now trying to fight back, on Monday launching a policy document targeting small business people. But can the Civic