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The professional ski season has drawn to a close but four Czech athletes, including the Czech ski cross champion Tomáš Kraus, aren’t ready to pull out the golf clubs just yet. In a day’s time, he and a well-known freeride skier and two of the country’s best snowboarders will head to Alaska, where they plan to tackle extreme inclines and pristine powder over the course of 12 days. The result should be a short documentary about skiing or snowboarding at its very best.

There’s been an unexpectedly negative reaction to a proposal by the Education Ministry to offer voluntary classes in Romani – the language of the country’s 300,000 Roma or gypsies – in Czech schools. A Facebook campaign against the proposal has already attracted over 85,000 supporters, although the authorities appear undeterred.

The Minister for Human Rights and Minorities Michael Kocáb has resigned - meeting a request by the Green Party which no longer intends to support the country’s caretaker government. The Greens decided to withdraw from the cabinet entirely after its environment minister stepped down over what they see as ineffective modernisation plans by the ČEZ power utility for a controversial coal-powered plant.

Monday night will see the opening of Prague Photo Fair. Until the end of the week, the Mánes Exhibition Hall will present a wide range of photographers, galleries and art schools from Central Europe. For the first time this year, the Prague Photo Fair is part of a larger event – the Prague Photo Festival - that will be held simultaneously at twelve venues in Prague. Tomáš Hájek is the event coordinator:

Millions of people, institutions and town halls around the globe joined forces in calling for action on climate change on Saturday evening by switching off their lights for an hour. Launched just 3 years ago by the World Wildlife Fund, Earth Hour is now observed by some 50 million people in 35 states. Although in Prague lights blazed on, the country’s second biggest city Brno was veiled in darkness as were a number of other locations such as Liberec, Telč, Třeboň and Děčín. Earlier today we spoke to Vojtěch Kotecký from the non-governmental organization

The Civic Democrats’ Mirek Topolánek has bowed to pressure from within his own party and agreed to step down as election leader two months before the Czechs go to the polls. The job has now been filled by deputy chairman Petr Nečas. More importantly, Mr Topolánek declined to give up his post of party leader - creating an unusual precedent. Many observers suggest that the compromise decision will only increase the party’s current woes and could help lead the Civic Democrats to defeat against their closest rivals in May.

In a desperate attempt to boost their chances in the upcoming elections, the centre-right Civic Democrats on Thursday replaced their election leader. In a heated five hour debate the party leadership forced former prime minister and party chair Mirek Topolánek to resign from the position, replacing him with deputy-chairman Petr Nečas. Mr Topolánek, whose awkward comments on gays and Jews last weekend triggered the change-of-guard, remains party chairman.

The Czech daily Právo reported this week that a former Communist prosecutor sent to prison for her role in the judicial murder of democratic politician Milada Horáková in 1950 could be released next year. Ludmila Brožová-Polednová, who at 88 is the country’s oldest prisoner, could have her six-year sentence reduced by half.

In two weeks’ time, news crews from around the world are set to descend on the Czech capital for the signing of an important deal between the United States and Russia on reducing their nuclear arsenals. The planned summit comes a year after America’s president, Barack Obama, outlined his policy on arms control in a major speech at Prague Castle.

A new sculpting project is to open up one of the few original streets of Prague’s former Jewish ghetto to the public. Sculptor Aleš Veselý’s “Three Gates” will be located in what used to be the heart of the neighborhood, near Pinkas synagogue. The project is slated to be finished in 2011. Sarah Borufka has the story.