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On Tuesday, the Czech hockey team faced a key challenge at the Ice Hockey World Championship: either defeat Norway or head home early. Aided by talented reinforcements from the NHL, the Czechs did the former: they won and they did so with style.

According to a report annually compiled by the Jewish community in Prague, the number of anti-Semitic statements made on Czech internet in 2012 increased three-fold compared to the previous year. More direct actions targeting Jews, however, did not see a significant rise around the Czech Republic.

The 68th annual Prague Spring International Music Festival began on Sunday with Bedřich Smetana’s Má Vlast (My Country) at Prague’s Municipal House and is continuing with high-profile events until the beginning of June. This week alone visitors will be able to attend the finale of the Prague Spring International Music Competition, The Giacomo Variations featuring American actor John Malkovich and a performance by Czech violin virtuoso Josef Špaček to name only a few of the many events.

Given the growing number of salesmen who abuse the trust of elderly people in their own homes and force them into highly disadvantageous contracts, many Czech towns and cities are taking matters into their own hands and banning door-to-door sales altogether in order to protect their citizens. While door-to-door salespeople are threatening to take the matter to court, the inhabitants of these towns have welcomed the move.

A Swiss court on Monday began hearing a major Czech privatization case. Six former managers of the Czech coal company MUS face accusations of money laundering and other crimes they allegedly committed during the privatization of the firm in the 1990s. The complicated case has been running for years, and is also prosecuted in the Czech Republic.

Tens of thousands of people are expected to queue for hours to view the Czech crown jewels, which have just gone on display at Prague Castle’s Vladislav Hall. The priceless collection, which includes the St. Wenceslas crown, is being shown for the first time in five years – but only for a 10-day period.

The Czech Republic has been heavily criticised in recent years for allowing corruption to flourish – particularly for refusing to abolish anonymous stock certificates known as bearer shares. Anti-corruption campaigners say these unregistered paper shares are of great value to corrupt businessmen, dirty politicians and crooked officials, especially in doling out lucrative public tenders. Now however, their days are numbered.

An elementary school in Prague now bears the name of the Czech-born former mayor of Chicago, Antonín Čermák. The renaming ceremony in his honour took place on Thursday, the 140th anniversary of his birth, and was attended, among other guests, by Čermák’s grandson.

If anybody was counting on Switzerland being an easy match-up at the Ice Hockey World Championships underway in Sweden they have since learned their lesson. The Swiss are the surprise of the tournament so far: first they upended hosts Sweden, then edged Canada, and on Monday added another scalp, defeating the Czechs.

The large-scale regional exhibition taking place in two South Bohemian and two Upper Austrian cities hit the first snag within days of the grand opening. Part of the exhibit in the small town of Vyšší Brod, which is dedicated to the houses of worship in the region, sparked intense criticism for displaying works dating back to darker days in history.