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The CTK news agency has reported that some Social Democrat MPs have admitted unofficially they would prefer their party to go into opposition, favouring a negotiated agreement with the right-of-centre Civic Democrats. Such an agreement would allow the right-of-centre party to govern for the next four years. The CTK cited an unnamed source within the Social Democratic Party, who said, by the same token the apparent "dissenters" would not support or tolerate the coalition government in next Friday's confidence vote, and would follow the Social Democrats deputy group's recommendation. Party leader Jiri Paroubek and others including deputies' group leader Martin Hasek have repeatedly ruled out tolerance for Mr Topolanek's government.

In a written letter on Thursday Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek appealed to individual Social Democrats to back his cabinet: he and others have continued to express optimism the government will pass its confidence vote.

Pavla Topolankova the wife of Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek has told journalists at a press conference she is not seeking to divorce her husband but will continue in her role as the prime minister's wife. There had been considerable speculation over the Topolanek's marriage in the Czech media recently, with the prime minister admitting this week that he was living with Lucie Talmanova, his girlfriend but also colleague from the Civic Democratic Party.

A new report released by Eurostat - the European Union's statistical office - has shown that growth in spending in research and development in the sciences in the Czech Republic was among the fastest in recent years, especially compared to other new EU countries which joined the EU in 2004. According to the report, Czech R&D spending grew by 8.3 percent in the years 2001 to 2005. In 2005, for example, the country invested 1.42 percent of the GDP (the equivalent of around 1.4 billion euros) in the R&D sector, while the amount spent in some other eastern and central European countries was a percentage point less. But, the Czech Republic is still said to lag far behind countries like Sweden, Germany, and Finland when it comes to funding the sciences. More than half the amount spent on science R & D in the Czech Republic comes from private sources, namely private companies.

Parts of Northern Moravia were hit by strong gales on Thursday night, resulting in fallen trees and downed power lines. Some 25,000 homes in and around Cesky Tesin were left without power for several hours. Electricity was renewed at all homes by around 11 pm. Some sites in mountain areas, meanwhile, recorded winds of 100 or more kilometres per hour.