News

The leader of the right-of-centre Civic Democrats, Mirek Topolanek has said his party is close to signing a coalition agreement with the Christian Democrats and the Greens. After a meeting of the newly elected MPs for the Civic Democrats on Tuesday, Mr Topolanek also said his party is not considering forming a minority government tolerated by the Social Democrats, the second biggest party in parliament, but he did not rule out the possibility either. The emerging three-party coalition would be one seat short of a majority in the lower house and would need support from the opposition to win a vote of confidence in the lower house.

Health Minister David Rath has issued a directive that extends the minimum daily office hours of general practitioners and dentists to seven hours. Up to date, doctors were only obliged to open their doors to patients for four hours and used the remaining time for administrative tasks or visits in patients' homes. Mr Rath says the number of doctors with short office hours is too high and hospitals have suffered as a result. While they should be attending to patients with serious medical problems, hospitals are often overwhelmed by patients with common health problems who seek their help because their doctors' offices are closed, Mr Rath says. Doctors' associations disagree with Mr Rath's decision and say it will harm the patients.

Czech Republic striker Milan Baros returned to full training on Tuesday after struggling with a foot injury and could play in Thursday's Group E match against Italy. Coach Karel Brueckner told reporters there was a chance Milan Baros will be fit for Thursday's match with Italy. The return of Baros would be greatly welcomed by the Czech team, who are much depleted ahead of the match, which they need to win to guarantee a place in the knock-out stage. Baros, top scorer at Euro 2004, had not trained properly since sustaining the injury in a June 3 friendly.

The leader of the right-of-centre Civic Democrats, Mirek Topolanek has said he rejected the conditions set by Social Democrat leader Jiri Paroubek for his party's support. The Civic Democrats are trying to form a coalition with two smaller parties, but the three would be one seat short of a majority in the lower house and would need the Social Democrats' support to win a vote of confidence in Parliament. Jiri Paroubek, whose Social Democrats came second in recent elections, has said he would not rule out supporting a government led by the election's winners if they reconsidered their plans for a flat tax and the privatisation of public services.

Mr Toplanek and Mr Paroubek are scheduled to hold further talks at the end of the week.