INFAMOUSLY BREAKING THE RECORD? It has been here before and will be again as long as the ruling Civic Democrats stay in power. We are talking about the no-confidence vote called on by the opposition Social Democrats again and again.
The country is not yet through a half-way of its EU Presidency and it looks like Topolánek's government may get a no-confidence status tomorrow.
The opposition Social Democrats are predicted to have the best chance now to topple the Civic Democrats in Tuesday's vote. They have not previously managed in four attempts.
Topolánek has 96 deputies in the 200-seat lower house while Paroubek enjoys the support of 97 votes. There are 7 MPs that are not aligned with neither of the main parties and have no made up their mind yet. Their votes (and moods that day) will be decisive.
Should the government lose its battle, Topolánek's men could stay in power, until the EU Presidency passes on. But would the EU leaders trust a government that would not be supported by its own Parliament?
It would certainly be for the first time in the EU Presidency leadership that a government without the confidence of the Parliament would chair the 27-country bloc.
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CONTROVERSIAL LOBBYIST AND PRESIDENTIAL CHIEF OF STAFF. What does a former communist official who used to be one of the most influential men in late 1990s have in common with the presidential chief of staff? Suspected by many, but confirmed only lately: 2008 February presidential election.
These two seemingly unconnected men met a year ago on the eve of the new president ballot to talk various things. According to the presidential chief of staff Jiří Weigl it was his upcoming birthday party, but controversial lobbyist Miroslav Šlouf has a different story.
Shortly before the presidential election in February 2008, Aktuálně.cz aired a CCTV footage taken in the hotel Savoy, which shows the meeting between Šlouf and Weigl.
Aktuálně.cz reporter Sabina Slonková, who got hold of the footage, was fined a CZK 20,000 penalty for refusing to disclose her source in February this year.
It provoked an international press freedom watchdogs outcry but to no avail. Czech president signed a bill that criminalizes publication of police wiretapps.
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WHERE ALL THE MONEY GOES. Although the last quarter of 2008 saw a world-wide decline in sales for all luxury car makers, the Czech Republic has yet to feel the impact.
Car sales in the Czech Republic increased only by 8.4%, but luxury car sales experienced double-digit growth, according to the Czech Car Importers Association.
Porsche in the Czech Republic increased its sales incredible 41%. Audi saw a 34% sale increase, BMW 16% and Mercedes 12%.
The most high-end car brands saw even greater sales increases in the Czech Republic, mainly because only very few such cars are sold in the Czech Republic in the first place.
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MAKING A MISTAKE BY NOT ADOPTING EURO. Unlike the Czech Cabinet, University of Leipzig Professor Günther Schnabl says the Czech Republic made a mistake by not adopting the euro before the crisis started.
The crisis experience so far confirms that having a single currency pays off, he says. Moreover, undefinedin the development of all EU countries, Schnabl says.
"There is very strong economic integration among EU countries. When they got rid of customs barriers, it turned out that exchange rates, including those on the single European market, would show huge swings as a result.
Eliminating exchange rate swings and stabilising the currency meant introducing a single currency, the euro," he said in an interview with Aktuálně.cz.
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THE DIRTIEST STREET OF PRAGUE. In the whole country no other inhabitants face so much pollution and increased noise levels like those living in Prague's Legerova street.
Now, local authorities decided to tackle the problem by cutting down the number of lanes.
People living in this street face a drastically higher risk to get lung cancer. Statistics coming from the World health Organization and Czech Meteorology and Hygiene Institute are not very optimistic either.
The concentration of dust particles in 2007 was 277 times higher than the allowed level, while last year it was 140 times higher.
Now, whether the smaller number of lanes will influence the amount of traffic is yet to be answered, as the number of cars does not seem to be lower, they only go slower to pass through.
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CZECH AUTHOR SHORTLISTED FOR BOOKER PRIZE. Czech author Arnošt Lustig has made the shortlist for the esteemed international literary prize.
Prague-born Lustig whose works often revolves around the Holocaust was imprisoned for three years in the Theresienstadt concentration camp during the World War Two. He escaped from the camp in 1945 but his entire family died there.
Among the candidates for the Booker award are 2001 Nobel Laureate V.S. Naipaul, American Evan S. Connel, Peruvian Manuel Vargas Llosa and Australian Peter Carey who has won the prize twice before.
Lustig's Lovely Green Eyes was nominated for another literary prestigious award in 2003 - the Pulitzer Prize. It did not win but it seems like world literary cirtics seem to appreciate the Czech-born writer much more.
