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Free tests of alcohol by the Health Ministry at the end of last year revealed that every eight bottle of spirits out of more than 7,000 checked brought in by households contained dangerous substances – 40 of them lethal amounts of methyl alcohol. The results were announced by the chief hygiene officer on Thursday, roughly half a year since a major poisoning outbreak in the Czech Republic.

Dissident blogger Yoani Sanchez arrived in the Czech Republic this week on what is her first trip abroad since Cuba’s communist authorities partially lifted restrictions on travelling. Ms Sanchez, best known for her acclaimed blog Generation Y, is attending the One World festival of human rights documentaries in the Czech capital.

A group of MPs in the lower house are drafting a new bill on legalising prostitution – the third such attempt in recent years. Prostitution in the Czech Republic exists in a sort of legal grey area; prostitution itself is not illegal, but most of the infrastructure surrounding it - brothels, pimping and so on – is.

A complaint to the Constitutional Court against outgoing president Václav Klaus is set to be discussed by the Czech Senate. The charge, which accuses Mr. Klaus of treason over a controversial amnesty he declared at the start of the year, made the agenda of the upper house when the requisite support was acquired on Tuesday. Its backers say a ruling would help define the president’s powers in the future.

A new smart phone application called FareBandit can help you avoid ticket inspectors in public transportation in Czech cities. The app won the top prize this week at the annual AppParade in Prague.

The 2013 One World festival of human rights documentaries kicks off in Prague on Monday. Over a week and a half, this year’s festival, the 15th, will present more than 100 films on subjects ranging from the international hackers group Anonymous to acid attacks on women in Pakistan to a homeless New Yorker who’s become friends with top film stars. The theme of this year’s One World is tolerance and intolerance; festival director Hana Kulhánková told me why.

The prime minister has begun to take aim at his party’s flagging fortunes which have been on a marked downturn since last year’s regional and senate elections. Prime minister and Civic Democrat leader Petr Nečas was in Pardubice on Monday, one stop on his regional tour aimed at boosting support among local leaders.

Monday marks the 65th anniversary of the communist putsch of 1948 which for the next four decades turned Czechoslovakia into a totalitarian state and a satellite of the Soviet Union. The anniversary is being commemorated by a series of events, warning against the Communists’ growing support in the society.

On Friday, the Czech government moved to cement a deal on church restitutions that the opposition Social Democrats are challenging at the Constitutional Court. Prime Minister Petr Nečas and representatives of 16 churches signed bilateral agreements under which the state will pay them financial compensation to the tune of 59 billion crowns over a period of 30 years.

The Czech Republic became the latest country to be hit by the horsemeat scandal on Wednesday, after officials confirmed the presence of horse DNA in frozen lasagne labelled as containing beef. The imported lasagne – sold at a Tesco supermarket in the city of Plzeň – has now been withdrawn as Czech authorities carry out further tests.