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The boom in transport construction is over, at least for the near future: that is the message new Transport Minister Vít Bárta sent on Tuesday after meeting with representatives of construction companies. Mr Bárta, like fellow ministers, is under pressure to introduce major cost-cutting measures in line with the government’s plan to slash the planned deficit in 2011 by more than 58 billion crowns. As a result, the Transport Ministry reportedly wants to freeze up to around 50 construction projects, including the completion of part of the D3 highway

As part of a series of meetings with the new cabinet, the Czech president, Václav Klaus, received Environment Minister Pavel Drobil at Prague Castle on Tuesday. But they discussed economic matters just as much as green issues. Under the previous elected government, the ministry was under the control of the Green Party and was seen as something of a bastion of environmental activism. That’s something the conservative Mr Drobil plans to change.

After four years when entrance was free, visitors now have to pay admission fees again at St Vitus Cathedral at Prague Castle. The castle’s operators say charging should make the magnificent cathedral more peaceful. But not everyone has to pay. If you come to pray – and you look the part – you can still enter for free.

The new government is preparing a minor revolution in an area of life that deeply affects every one of the country’s 10 million citizens, and even its foreign residents too: their so-called birth number. The clever 10-digit number is a person’s life in a nutshell, but the problem is, it can also be abused.

A new study released by the Czech Institute of Health Information and Statistics has suggested that when it comes to male obesity in the Czech Republic the situation has grown worse. In 2002, some 56 percent of Czech men were overweight but by 2008 that number had increased to 63. By comparison the number of women with weight problems over the same period has remained largely unchanged, at 43 percent.

The Czech Military Intelligence service is having to answer for one of the worst blunders in its history – unintentionally revealing the names of some of its employees, including undercover agents active on foreign missions. The story, broken on Monday by the daily Mladá fronta Dnes, has exploded like a bombshell on the Czech political scene with the institution coming under fire from every conceivable side.

By now, many Czechs will have at least once heard or seen 28-year-old Jakub Vágner – top sports fisherman, indomitable adventurer and world-record holder for huge catches everywhere. Recently Vágner launched a new series called Fish Warrior for the prestigious National Geographic and last Saturday he scored another major coup: appearing on the famous Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

The Czech Republic is likely to host part of the US anti-missile defence shield in Europe. The American administration has officially asked the US Congress to fund the early warning program. Czech Prime Minister Petr Nečas confirmed the news on Friday, saying that the new centre could be positioned in Prague or in its vicinity. If approved, the project could be launched before the end of the year.

The Czech brewer Budějovický Budvar scored a major victory on Thursday when the top European Court ruled that global rival Anheuser-Busch InBev could not register the Budweiser name as a EU-wide trademark. The decision brought to an end a 14-year-long legal dispute, meaning that Budějovický Budvar will not have to fear that its own trademarks in 19 European countries could be challenged. In Great Britain the Budweiser name, for example, is used both by Budvar and Anheuser-Busch, but in Germany only Budvar has rights to the brand.

Swiss police have arrested the fugitive Czech businessman Tomáš Pitr, who in the Czech Republic faces 11 years in prison for tax evasion and embezzlement. The multi-billionaire was on the run for more than three years. Czech authorities believe that if extradited to the Czech Republic, he could provide crucial information about the infiltration by organized crime into state structures.