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The European Commission has asked the Czech government to halt logging in the Šumava National Park. Czech authorities resumed felling bark-beetle infested trees in Šumava this week to prevent the spreading of the beetle infestation. But the European Commissioner for the Environment says logging should cease until the government justifies the move.

Former defense minister Vlasta Parkanová, who has come under suspicion of abusing her position in an overpriced military aircraft deal, has a loyal defender in Finance Minister Miroslav Kalousek. The finance minister, who previously served in the same cabinet in which Mrs Parkanová had the defense portfolio, has called her possible prosecution unconstitutional. He is basing his criticism on a statement from the Czech Institute of State and Law.

For 51 Czech passengers aboard a bus chartered by the Brno travel agency Atlas Adria, a summer holiday turned into a nightmare on Saturday. En route to the popular Croatian holiday destination Makarska Riviera, the bus swerved off the road and overturned. Eight passengers were killed in the accident and more than 40 injured. Some have since returned to the Czech Republic via military aircraft.

The Czech national football team lost 1:0 to Portugal in the quarterfinals of EURO 2012 in Warsaw on Thursday and was knocked out of the tournament. In the game, the Czechs delivered their best performance at the championships but failed to stop Portugal’s star Ronaldo from sending them home. Thursday’s match was also the Czech striker Milan Baroš’s last appearance for the national side.

The Week of Freedom, a project established in Prague last year on the twentieth anniversary of the withdrawal of Russian troops from Czechoslovakia is both a celebration of the return of democracy to the Czech lands and a means of highlighting common values. This year’s event centres around freedom of speech and has been dominated by support for the jailed members of the Russian feminist punk band Pussy Riot.

Czech police have busted the largest marihuana grow operation ever discovered in the country. Last month, officers from the national anti-drug unit found nearly 6,000 cannabis plants at four different sites in western Bohemia, and arrested 13 members of a Czech-Vietnamese gang, the police said on Thursday. The police also detained a Vietnamese man who was sealed in at one of the facilities and forced to care for the plants.

Who is the greatest Czech living abroad? As part of the “Czechs abroad” project, the Foreign Ministry, together with Czech Radio and Czech TV, is finding the answer to that question. The ambitious initiative also seeks to paint a more vivid picture of those Czechs who do not live in their native country – through reports, conferences and discussions. Sarah Borufka has more.

The Omnipol company, which is at the centre of a scandal involving allegedly overpriced military transport planes, has defended itself, saying its profits from the deal were normal and amounted to far less than police and the media have asserted. Meanwhile, a parliament committee has begun examining the evidence to determine whether to give up MP and former defence minister Vlasta Parkanová, who the police want to prosecute over the deal.

Just a month after the government gave the thumbs down to a costly and inefficient electronic health project, there are indications that it could be facing another international arbitration case over the decision. The minority shareholder in the joint stock company which masterminded the ill-fated project has stated in no uncertain terms that it considers the decision illegal and is ready to take the case to court to defend its interests.

Czech President Václav Klaus on Tuesday vetoed a controversial bill which would give towns the power to banish repeat offenders without permanent residence from their territory for up to three months. Authors of the legislation say it will provide a much needed tool to fight petty crime and misdemeanours. But the president sided with the bill’s critics and said it might be in breach of the constitution.