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British MPs say they are seriously concerned about lorries registered outside the UK being a safety threat on British roads. A report by the House of Commons Transport Committee called on Monday for foreign lorries that are not up to UK standards to be taken off the road. Press reports pointed a finger at the Czechs as being the worst offenders with 60 percent of their lorries failing roadworthiness tests in the UK.

A child had to have three of his toes amputated on Friday after his foot was caught in an escalator at Prague’s Můstek metro station. The accident prompted questions about the state of the escalators in the capital’s underground rail network, with the boy’s family threatening to sue the transport provider. But Prague Public Transport Company says it is not to blame.

One of the ways to contain the current economic crisis, it seems, might just be to work less, and a plan to that end is gaining currency in the Czech Republic. The four-day work week has stemmed the rise in unemployment elsewhere, and now it’s an idea that is getting support from all sides of the table.

Police are investigating an attack on former prime minister and Civic Democrat leader Mirek Topolánek. He was injured on Friday after objects were thrown at him while he was on the campaign trail ahead of October’s parliamentary elections. After previously ruling it out, police now say that the attack could have been “ordered,” stirring up speculation about who might have been behind it. But the circumstances surrounding the incident are still confused.

A month ago CzechTourism, in cooperation with the Association of Master Chefs and Confectioners and other partners launched a new project called “Czech Specials” – promoting national and regional cuisine across the country. The aim is to boost gastro-tourism by making tourists aware just what goodies they are missing: everything from black soup in Prague to wild boar in the Krkonoše Mountains. Jan Velinger asked CzechTourism’s Filip Remenec to tell him more about the project.

A memorial ceremony was held at the Czech Radio building on Vinohradská Street on Friday morning, marking the events of August 21, 1968. During the previous night, Soviet tanks had rolled into Czechoslovakia, crushing the Prague Spring reform movement and the hopes of a generation. Czech Radio became a rallying point for resistance to the occupation; thousands of people gathered in front of the building, and bloody fighting ensued.

Czech Paralympic athlete Jana Fesslová has become the first wheelchair user to conquer one of the world’s highest motorable passes – the Himalayan Khardung La pass at 5,359 metres above sea level. During a three-week motorbike expedition around the region, Jana and her friends travelled some 2,300 kilometres along some of the world’s highest roads.

In view of the continuing economic crisis the Czech Republic’s two largest parties, and often bitter rivals, the Social Democrats and the Civic Democrats have expressed a willingness to cooperate on next year’s budget. Both indicated this week the need to find a consensus, after interim Finance Minister Eduard Janota announced that if strong measures weren’t taken to cut spending and raise revenues, the country would face a ballooning deficit of 230 billion crowns. Is this sudden show of goodwill for real and can it work?

The German Foreign Ministry wants to acquire Prague’s Lobkowicz Palace, the seat of the German embassy. For thousands of East Germans, the compound was the last stop on their way to freedom in August 1989, two months before the fall of the Berlin Wall. In exchange for the historic building, German authorities are offering the Czech Foreign Ministry a palace in Berlin.

The much-anticipated privatisation of the Czech Republic’s national carrier Czech Airlines (CSA) has hit turbulence, with Air France-KLM dropping out of the tender. That leaves only one bidder for the loss-making airline – and the Czech government likely to face a choice between getting a poor price for CSA or not selling it at all.