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A major new exhibition entitled “Biedermeier Art and Culture in the Czech Lands, 1818 to 1848” has just got underway at Prague Castle. Indeed, organisers are saying it could well be the Castle’s biggest show of the year. The term Biedermeier takes in literature, painting and even life-style, though it is most closely identified with elegant furniture which was made for central Europe’s emerging middle classes in the first half of the 19th century. Kateřina Horníčková of Prague Castle’s culture section told me a bit about the phenomenon of Biedemeier,

A loosely-knit association of doctors, prominent personalities and civic leaders has come together under the umbrella of an anti-gambling group calling itself Stop Hazard. They have put together a petition which seeks to pressure the government into passing new legislation to curb the number of slot-machines and other gambling venues in the country.

The Czech Republic has become the 20th country of the European Union to recognize independent Kosovo. When the decision was announced last week, it was criticized by some Czech politicians who claimed the government of the former Serbian province has not yet fully shown its commitment to upholding democratic principles and protecting Kosovo’s religious and ethnic minorities. Radio Prague asked the head of the Czech Liaison Office in Pristina Janina Hřebíčková what the situation in Kosovo was like at the moment.

Billed as the largest gastronomic event in the Czech Republic, a new 10-day Czech Beer Festival is up and running at the Holesovice fairgrounds in Prague right now. Since Saturday, visitors to the festival have been enjoying not only the large selection of Czech beers on offer in the numerous shady tents, but also food, live music and a carnival-esque atmosphere.

Reporters working for the Mladá fronta Dnes daily recently carried out an undercover security test in a number of Czech hospitals, revealing serious shortcomings related to patients’ safety. The reporters, dressed as doctors, accessed eleven of the twelve hospitals tested. They managed to get virtually anywhere they wanted, including intensive care units and maternity wards. Nurses provided them with patient’s medical records and patients readily answered their questions - considered them to be genuine doctors.

This Tuesday sees the opening of a new exhibition at Prague’s Jaroslav Fragner gallery featuring the work of renowned Czech architect Martin Rajniš. He is one of the co-authors of the famous Máj building, now Tesco, on Prague’s Narodní Street as well as the architect who designed a famous wood and glass post office, on the Czech Republic’s Sněžka Mountain. Increasingly, the architect has focused on the incorporation of natural materials. The aim of exhibition, in many ways, is to show visitors they don’t have to accept the status quo.

Veterans, military personnel and politicians turned out on Tuesday to commemorate the anniversary of Reichsprotektor Reinhard Heydrich’s assassination. After 66 years, the two British-trained Czechoslovak paratroopers who carried out the killing were dedicated a monument at the site where the daring assassination took place. But what took so long?

While western European countries slowly take strong measures against smoking, including outright bans in public places, countries such as the Czech Republic are struggling to make meaningful reductions, while anti-smoking legislation remains stalled. Meanwhile, new figures suggest that more and more Czechs are lighting up.

The Czech Republic inches ever closer to January 1st, 2009, when – for the first time – it will take the helm of the European Union. The agenda for the EU presidency over the next eighteen months will be shared between France, the Czech Republic and Sweden, and the deputy minister for European affairs Alexandr Vondra is hosting his French and Swedish colleagues this week to put the finishing touches to a 70-page document setting out EU policy.

The Czech government is working on a proposal that will give Poland back the land it was stripped of in the 1950s, at the order of the Soviet leadership. While the territory to be returned to the Czech Republic’s northern neighbour is very small and Polish claims are not disputed, some mayors that will be affected by the settlement hope their own interests will also be taken into account.