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The move by the Social Democrats to renege on an earlier decision and say it was now not backing the dissolution of the Chamber of Deputies, caught most observers by surprise on Tuesday. The question is what will be the impact on the country?

A high profile Prague clash between squatters and their supporters and police has highlighted the number of empty and deteriorating buildings in the capital. It has also put the spotlight on the powerlessness of local councils and authorities to force reluctant owners to take action.

The Czech Republic is a step closer to resolving its drawn-out crisis, after President Klaus signed into force a constitutional amendment facilitating the way to early elections. With the new law in effect, the Chamber of Deputies is expected to approve its own dissolution on Tuesday after which President Klaus should announce a new date for early general elections - November 6 and 7.

Russia’s deputy Prime Minister arrived in Prague for talks on Monday amid frosty Czech-Russian relations following a tit-for-tat spy row. Speculation has been high in the Czech capital about what concrete steps Alexander Zhukov might take to ease the current strains. But is the anticipation about a possible diplomatic thaw is well founded?

The Czech Constitutional Court upheld a complaint by an independent MP on Thursday, cancelling the holding of early general elections planned for early October. The court said that the constitutional amendment which shortened the current term of the Chamber of Deputies was itself a breach of the constitution. Legislators have reacted quickly – saying they will amend the constitution to allow the holding of early elections in November.

The Chinese Embassy has protested at speeches given by the Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama and the exiled Uighur activist Rebiya Kadeer at a human rights conference in Prague. The “Peace, Democracy and Human Rights in Asia” conference, organised by Václav Havel’s Forum 2000 Foundation, got underway on Friday with a panel discussion on religious, cultural and indigenous rights.

Finding an agent that would successfully clean up chemical toxins has been a kind of theoretical Holy Grail for chemists. Thanks to a group of scientists at Brno’s Masaryk University it seems the quest is over. The international team has created an enzyme that breaks some of the most persistent chemical waste products down into pure water and carbon dioxide, doing in a few months what takes nature hundreds of years. A bit earlier I spoke with Dr. Jiří Damborský, who headed the team.

The Czech government has just approved a draft budget for 2010 that includes a record deficit of 230 billion crowns, or more than 13 billion USD. The caretaker cabinet has also been debating measures that could save around 70 billion crowns. But, with elections set for later this year, the main Czech parties have shown little enthusiasm for the government’s proposals.

Czech crayfish are in trouble, and a new multimillion-crown research centre is coming to their rescue. The project aims to reduce the threat of rival crayfish species brought here from America and restore the indigenous population, while at the same time being of practical benefit to the water system.

The Czech Republic and the Principality of Liechtenstein established diplomatic relations on Tuesday, marking an important step forward in a decades-old property dispute. The two countries have had no official ties since World War II, when Czechoslovakia seized land and castles belonging to the aristocratic House of Liechtenstein.