CRITICAL

President Václav Klaus criticized politicians' inability to agree on a coalition government in his New Year's speech. He said he doesn't want to see a government that has its support based on a defector from any party and called for internal unity within the parties. He likened the current political scene to a civil Cold War.

EXECUTION

The Dec. 30 hanging death of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein will help Iraq come to terms with its violent past and move forward, Foreign Minister Alexandr Vondra said in a statement released later that day. "The end of the Saddam Hussein era will move Iraq closer to stability and democracy," the statement said. Slovakia took a cooler stance towards the execution, saying in a statement that it rejects capital punishment in all situations.

CHARGED

Authorities have charged a Russian man after a passenger plane made an emergency landing at Ruzyně Airport Dec. 28, a court spokeswoman told the Czech News Agency (ČTK) Dec. 29. The Aeroflot flight from Moscow to Geneva was forced to land after the man became aggressive with the crew and demanded the plane divert to Egypt.

RECORD

Unseasonably warm temperatures on New Year's Day beat previous records set in 1860 and 1921 by a razor-thin margin of 0.1 degrees, the Czech Hydrometeorological Institute told ČTK Jan. 1. A peak temperature of 12.5 degrees Celsius (54.5 degrees Fahrenheit) was measured in Prague at 2 p.m. Warm weather is predicted to last until at least the second week of January.

REGISTERED

More than 200 gay couples have registered as same-sex partners since the registered partnership law went into effect July 1. Businesses are adjusting to accommodate people with the new status, Mladá fronta Dnes wrote Jan.2. Banks, for instance, are preparing special loans for registered partners.

CRIME

One in three adults in the Czech Republic have become victims of violent crime at some point in their lives, according to a survey carried out by the Criminology and Social Prevention Institute and released Jan. 1. This falls within the European Union norm, the survey says. The number of per-capita murders in this country is lower than in South European countries like Greece or Italy.

EU

Celebrations and official ceremonies in Bulgaria and Romania Dec. 31 marked the accession of the two countries into the European Union. Addressing a crowd, Romanian President Traian Basescu described the EU as "the road of our future." Meanwhile, Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov described his country's accession as a "heavenly moment." The entrance of the two countries brings the number of member countries to 27.

GERMANY

In a public address Dec. 31, Chancellor Angela Merkel marked the beginning of Germany's six-month term in the rotating EU presidency by vowing to revive flagging efforts toward an EU constitution. She also pledged to strengthen ties with Russia and Central Asia.

SPAIN

The Basque separatist group ETA has claimed responsibility for a Dec. 30 car bombing in a garage at the Madrid airport. Two men, Ecuadorian nationals believed to have been sleeping in the garage when the bomb exploded, are missing and presumed dead. The bombing shattered a nine-month cease-fire between the Spanish government and ETA. If the two deaths are confirmed, they would be the first attributed to ETA since 2003.

BELARUS

Russia and Belarus reached a deal over gas Dec. 31 after Russian company Gazprom threatened to cut off supplies if Belarus didn't accept large price increases. The deal will more than double the cost of gas from $47 (990 Kč) per 1,000 cubic meters (35,000 cubic feet) of gas to $105. Belarus had threatened to disrupt Russian gas shipments to Western Europe that pass through its territory.

SLOVAKIA

The Dec. 31 shutdown of a reactor at the Jaslovské Bohunice nuclear facility in western Slovakia will end the country's electrical self-sufficiency, a spokesman for the Economic Ministry told reporters. The second reactor at the site is expected to close in 2008. The closures were part of Slovakia's agreement for joining the EU in 2004. The twin reactors provided approximately 20 percent of the country's electrical needs.

FRANCE

More than 300 cars were set on fire around France on New Year's Eve, mostly by young people, French police said Jan. 1. A total of 258 arrests were made around the country. There were no major clashes between officers and youths, police said.

AUSTRIA

Interior Minister Liese Prokop died suddenly Dec. 31 after reportedly suffering a ruptured aorta. Prokop, 65, died on the way to hospital, a government spokesperson said. She was Austria's first female interior minister and first made a name for herself after winning a silver medal in the pentathlon at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City.

NETHERLANDS

Brothel owners in Amsterdam have challenged the city's decision to close 33 brothels, the city said Dec. 29. The closures would shut down one-third of the capital's famous red-light district. The council says the brothels are a front for criminal activity, including money laundering and human trafficking. The owners say closures would endanger women by forcing prostitution, legalized in the Netherlands five years ago, underground.

UK

The United Kingdom has paid off its World War II debt to Canada and the United States, making the final payment at the end of 2006, Economic Secretary Ed Balls said Dec. 30. After the war, the United Kingdom borrowed $1.2 billion from Canada and $4.3 billion from the United State to finance its reconstruction. At 2 percent interest, repayment totaled nearly $10 billion.