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Czech and Slovak police have charged 25 people with running an internet-based global prostitution ring using 230 women, many of whom were forced into selling their bodies for sex, officials said on Wednesday. The group posed as the Eli modelling agency, luring girls with promises of work as hostesses at events round the world, but then forcing them into prostitution, Slovak Police First Vice-President Jaroslav Spisiak told Reuters news agency. "They were invited to castings, where they had pictures taken, mostly in underwear or naked -- then they were gradually told that they will have to offer sex if the client wants," he said. The girls were offered over the internet and spent up to a week with clients wherever they requested them, including Japan, western Europe, the United States and the United Arab Emirates.

The leading Czech airline, CSA, is the first airline at Prague's Ruzyne airport to allow passengers check-in one day before their flights. The Czech Airport Authority has welcomed the move as the country's main international airport has been overwhelmed by growing numbers of passengers. In the first five months of this year, CSA recorded over 30% more passengers than in the same period last year.

Czech Prime Minister Vladimir Spidla has said he will resign from his post if he fails to gain a vote of confidence from the Social Democrats at their party executive committee meeting next weekend. Following coalition party negotiations on Monday Mr Spidla told journalists he felt he'd be unable to lead the government if he didn't get an affirmation of support from his own party, and he added that the future of the current coalition would definitely be decided by the end of the week. According to constitutional procedure, the prime minister's resignation would signal the end of the current coalition, which counts the senior Social Democrats, and two junior right-of-centre parties, the Christian Democratic party and the Freedom Union.

The government enjoys only the slimmest of majorities in Parliament.

The weekend meeting of the Social Democrat's executive committee was to weigh replacing Mr Spidla as chairman but leave Mr Spidla at the head of the government. As Mr Spidla has now made clear, he finds that option unacceptable.

Coalition party representatives meeting in four hours of talks on Monday have agreed on a proposed state budget deficit of some 90 billion crowns for 2005. That number does not include a loss of 19 billion crowns covered by the CKA, the state bail-out agency. Compared to this year's projected deficit, the 2005 budget gap, in real terms, amounts to about 6 billion crowns less.

Prime Minister Vladimir Spidla said that the coalition had decided on the outline for next year's state budget, following reform guidelines put forward by Finance Minister Bohuslav Sobotka.