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This time last year, a new smoking law went into effect, banning smoking in public places such as cinemas, schools, and bus and tram stops. But is this enough to bring down the number of smoke-related illnesses? Today one year after the law was introduced, Czech anti-smoking lobbyists say it is not, but it would still be a step in the right direction if the state ensured that the current law was actually respected.

So far this year, two men who abused their girlfriends or wives have been temporarily barred from their homes by police. That's a consequence of a law which took effect on January first, giving police broader powers to intervene in cases of domestic violence. Ilya Marritz brings us more.

The Czech Republic, like most EU countries, uses Central European Time. But few people know that until 1912, the Czech capital Prague had its own time zone. The so-called "Prague time" was 2 minutes and 18 seconds behind the rest of Central Europe. The clocks were finally synchronised 95 years ago this week.

Seven months ago Mirek Topolanek was the toast of the right wing Civic Democratic Party. The man who led his party to six election victories had triumphed in the elections and after eight long years in the opposition benches his Civic Democrats were ready to take over the reigns of power. Seven long months later the country lacks a stable government, the prime minister is seen as a failure and his party is racked by internal conflict.

Like the rest of Central Europe, we're having an unusually warm winter here in the Czech Republic. Some towns and cities have even posted record temperatures often reaching well above the ten degree Celsius mark. With snow scarce on the ground, travel agents say many Czechs who traditionally go to the mountains to ski are now buying holiday packages elsewhere. Naturally, many ski resorts are struggling to adapt to the situation. Dita Asiedu reports:

The Czech Cultural Center Houston has begun selling a new Czech family cookbook titled "Cooking with the Klimas", and if you were looking for inspiration in the kitchen this dual language book might be what you've been looking for. Written by a retired Czech-American physician with help from her husband and daughter, it was more than twenty years in the making. The result is a 500 page "tome" chock full of home recipes.

Although the Czech economy is booming, the government has surprisingly posted a large budget deficit of 93.7 billion crowns or roughly four and a half billion US dollars, which could have dire implications for the country's future development. With the Czech Republic mired in political stalemate, this news could not have come at a worse time.

Years before becoming one of the worst mass murderers of all time, Adolf Hitler struggled to make ends meet as an artist. Paradoxically, while the exact whereabouts of the German dictator's remains are uncertain, there is a busy trade today in the paintings he made in the early 1900s, which nobody was interested in buying at the time. Recently a watercolor purported to be by Adolf Hitler went on the auction block on a Czech website.

Two road deaths, two stabbings, thirty-four fires, 273 injuries - Prague's Emergency Medical Service had its busiest night in five years on New Year's Eve. Though emergency services were called to a lot less cases in the rest of the country, the injuries caused by fireworks and the consumption of alcohol were dramatic. Dita Asiedu reports:

It has long been custom in the Czech Republic for viewers to tune in on January 1st to watch the president's New Year's address and this year's speech was followed closely. After months of political deadlock following inconclusive elections in June, it was hardly surprising politics topped the president's list.