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Police have revealed that they have not been able to learn who was behind an August attack on Civic Democrat leader Mirek Topolánek, which left him with light injuries; they have said their investigation will continue. At the weekend, the police charged four men for with throwing stones and eggs at the politician during a pre-election stop. Mr Topolánek suffered a cut on the head after being hit by the projectiles. The four later turned themselves in, saying they had been recruited by an unknown party who had offered each 40,000 crowns and an additional 50,000 crowns in advance to go ahead with the move. It is not known whether the four men received any money for the attack.

The Czech Republic’s Lukáš Dlouhý has won the doubles final at tennis’s US Open with his Indian partner Leander Paes. They were trailing by a set and a break before clawing back to beat Mahesh Bhupathi and Mark Knowles 3-6 6-3 6-2 at Flushing Meadows on Sunday. Dlouhý had been beaten in the final of the US Open in 2007 and 2008. He and Paes are now celebrating their second Grand Slam title of the season, after also triumphing at this year’s the French Open.

The Czech Republic is one step closer to early general elections, after President Václav Klaus and Prime Minister Jan Fischer signed a constitutional amendment on the dissolution of the Chamber of Deputies and an amendment to the election law that shortens certain election deadlines. The amendments were approved by both houses of Parliament on Friday. They will enter into force as of Monday.

Under a plan agreed by the main political parties, the Chamber of Deputies will dissolve itself on Tuesday and the president will call elections on November 6 and 7.

Elections had been called for October 8 and 9. However, they were cancelled by the Constitutional Court, which upheld a complaint by independent MP Miloš Melčák that a one-off amendment allowing for them was unlawful. Mr Melčák and another independent MP Juraj Raninec have said they may take the second constitutional amendment back to the court. However, Christian Democrat leader Cyril Svoboda pointed out on Sunday that once the lower house is dissolved they will lose the right to appeal to the Constitutional Court.

The Czech Republic has had an interim government since May. There are concerns that a failure to form a new political government in the near future would have serious consequences for the country’s budget for next year; if a 2010 budget is not approved in time, a provisional budget without needed spending cuts would enter into force.

Police in Prague have arrested 24 squatters who moved into a building in the city’s Albertov district on Saturday. On Saturday afternoon and evening around 70 arrests were made when squatters and their supporters clashed with police as they attempted to gain access to the empty building. Some of those arrested had been evicted from a well-known Prague squat known as Milada in June.