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After over seven years in the post, Mirek Topolánek is stepping down as chairman of the Civic Democrats. The announcement comes days after he was forced to quit as election leader. But with only eight weeks until general elections, what will this change at the top mean for the Czech Republic’s biggest right-of-centre party?

This Thursday saw the opening of a new exhibition in Prague focusing on the benefits of recycling. The Czechs are among the best in Europe when it comes to the recovery and recycling of many plastics, but more progress can still be made on the recycling of other items, including PET bottles, paper and glass.

The Czech Foreign Ministry this week put to work an extensive cost-cutting plan, and closed down the embassy in Angola, the consulate in Montreal and the cultural Czech Centre in the German city of Dresden. Later this year, the ministry is also planning to close more embassies in several other countries. Earlier I spoke to deputy foreign minister Hynek Kmoníček and asked him which embassies will be affected by the ministry’s saving measures.

On Tuesday, March 30th the Czech flag was more in evidence than usual – the state symbol turned 90. The red, white and blue flag with its simple geometric pattern was created in 1920 shortly after the founding of an independent Czechoslovak state. Although Czechoslovakia no longer exists, the flag remains the Czech Republic’s state symbol.

The renovation of Charles Bridge, one of Prague’s most significant landmarks, has been hampered by serious mistakes, some of which are irreversible. That’s the verdict of a regional authority on preservation of historical monuments which reviewed the progress of the renovation, and fined Prague City Hall over three million crowns.

In what some describe as the end of an era, the Czech Postal Service on Wednesday ended a 160-year-long practice of delivering telegrams. While in the 1930s Czechs sent about four million telegrams a year, the arrival of electronic communication in the 1990s practically killed demand for the service. Telegrams have been replaced mainly by mobile phone text messages and email.

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 Czech Republic has been dubbed the drug haven of the east because of its liberal legislation and generally tolerant attitude to drugs. But according to the annual report by the Czech anti-drug police squad, released on Tuesday, the country also remains Europe’s biggest producer of methamphetamine. The police also warn of the availability of purer and cheaper cocaine and heroin, while law enforcement agencies are planning to crack down on the users of the most popular drug among Czechs: marijuana.

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.

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: