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A new photo exhibition at Prague’s Café Slavia depicts four decades in the life of the great Czech actor, playwright, and comic Jan Werich. The exhibit, entitled “Jan Werich and Friends” opened on Tuesday, and features photos from private collections that have taken years to put together.

The government is trying to speedily resolve a sharp increase in the recreational use of certain legal but addictive drugs brought in to the country from Poland. In just the past few months, a wave of specialty shops has cropped up along the Polish border, vending obscure, synthetic narcotics that aged legislation does not prohibit. With four such shops in the town of Český Těšín alone, the government fears an explosive problem on the horizon if the law is not amended to ban the new market, but passage through parliament is not a given as similar

The Czech Foreign Ministry has launched a far reaching review of what its future priorities should be and how it can achieve them. The review is aimed at adapting policy to global changes over the last few years and also the ministry’s stretched resources.

The biggest national betting and lottery firm and paymaster for Czech sport, Sazka, is fighting for its survival. On Monday, one of Sazka’s creditors filed for insolvency proceedings against the firm, claiming the betting giant is no longer able to pay its debts. Sazka’s management fiercely repudiates the demand but the firm is looking hard to steer its own way out of trouble.

Diplomatic cables released by Wikileaks reportedly show that the Czech Republic was warned by the United States against selling machine tools they feared could find their way to use in the Iranian nuclear programme. Specifically, it claims that in the search for weapons-making machinery, Iranian companies have attempted to bypass Czech export controls by buying through a Turkish partner.

Home births are currently under the spotlight in the Czech Republic; a trial began in Prague last week involving the chairwoman of the country’s Union of Midwives. Ivana Königsmarková, one of the very few Czech midwives qualified to deliver babies at home, faces up to four years in prison after overseeing a botched delivery that left a baby boy severely brain damaged. She denies any wrongdoing.

Czechs are marking the 42nd anniversary of the death of student martyr Jan Palach. He set himself on fire and later died in protest against the Soviet led invasion of 1968 and retreat from the reforms, the so-called ‘normalisation’ that followed. The anniversary has relaunched hopes and promises that Prague could finally get a statue to mark the self sacrifice of the 20-year-old student.

Czech roads finally became safer last year. According to police statistics released on Thursday, 2010 saw the lowest number of road deaths in five decades, despite a slight surge in the overall number of accidents. The police say greater awareness among drivers, together with a better approach by traffic police themselves, were among the principle causes.

Thursday evening saw the awarding of the first-ever Czech Film Critics Awards at Prague’s Archa Theatre. The awards are meant as a dignified alternative to the more commercial Czech Lions, which are given by the Czech TV & Film Academy.

They started out with dreams of positions on the winners’ podium but for many the most tangible souvenirs are broken bones and trips to the hospital. Many Czech competitors in the gruelling Dakar rally went out with a bang. But for one of the best hopes of a winning place, Tatra lorry driver Aleš Loprais, it was more like a whimper.