Czech government

• Czech President Vaclav Klaus on 9 January appointed a new government in an attempt to end seven months of deadlock. He named Mirek Topolanek as prime minister in the new minority government. A vote of confidence will take place before the middle of February.

Controversial proposals on the regulation of ‘advanced therapies’ - tissue engineering used to build skin, bone and cartilage from human cells - will return to the European Parliament’s environment committee on 22 January.