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The Czech Republic’s best known exports may be Skoda cars and beer, but you might be surprised to find out that Czech blown-glass Christmas decorations are also big business. And they may well even be stocked by a department store near you – they end up on the shelves of Macy’s in New York and Harrods in London, and even the White House is decked out in them come Christmas time.

Czech Christmas wouldn’t be complete without the traditional Czech Christmas dish, fried carp. Just like every year, thousands of carp have ended up in tanks in the streets of Prague to be selected by hungry Czechs.

On the stroke of midnight on Thursday the Czech Republic and eight EU member states joined the Schengen border-free zone. Politicians from Austria, Germany, Poland and Slovakia met up at common border crossings to symbolically saw through border bars and hail the event as a big step to a one-tier Europe. Despite the chilly weather many people living in the border areas turned out to celebrate the occasion.

The Czech government has approved the draft of a new penal code introducing a number of new penalties and definitions of crimes. It raises the maximum penalty for murder to 20 years in prison and establishes house confinement as a form of alternative punishment. The cabinet will now seek approval for the bill in parliament.

Every year, thousands of tourists come to Prague in order to visit the city’s Christmas markets. The numerous markets offer visitors a chance to shop for traditional Czech crafts, while sipping on a cup or two of mulled wine or mead. But do they live up to their promise? Earlier today, I interrupted a couple of British tourists on Old Town Square to ask them precisely that. Here they are introducing themselves:

Ondrej Liska was appointed the Czech Republic’s minister of education two weeks ago, following the resignation of his Green Party colleague Dana Kucthova, who had failed to draw fully on all the available EU education funds. On his first day in the post, the new minister was greeted by striking teachers, protesting in demand of higher funding. When Ondrej Liska outlined his priorities to reporters at the Ministry of Education on Tuesday I asked him what changes he was planning.

With less than two weeks to go to the end of the year, doctors’ offices are bursting at the seams. However, it is not a flu epidemic that’s filling waiting rooms; people are concerned about having to pay fees for medical services as of next year, and are stocking up on medicines just as they would hoard up on food ahead of an expected price hike. The rumblings of discontent over the health reform are growing and they are leading to a last-minute flurry of uncertainty among government politicians.

The eastern Bohemian town of Moravska Trebova is situated in an attractive part of the country. Yet, unlike other towns in the region, it hasn’t been very successful in drawing tourists. Now this is about to change, local councillors are hoping. They have introduced an ambitious project: what should become the first real-life Czech fairy tale kingdom.

As of next year, some American TV viewers will get a taste of an original Czech TV production. Orbis TV, a Czech language station broadcasting in and around Chicago, has bought the first 84 episodes of a Czech series called Letiste or The Airport. It is made by the Prague-based channel Prima, which has been broadcasting the soap opera since September 2006. The deal is being called the first of its kind.

The police have halted an investigation of alleged fraud and tax evasion on the part of Martin Bursik, the environment minister and the head of the Green Party. The “case”, which had the potential of costing Mr Bursik his seat in the government, was based on an anonymous tip which prompted the police to look into the bills of a real estate company owned by the environment minister. On Monday, the prosecution said nothing indicated that Mr Bursik’s company breached the law.