News

A Czech mountaineer has died after his climbing party hit bad weather on a volcano in Russia's far east. Officials said the man had apparently died of head injuries. The man, who has not been named, was part of a group of 17 Czech climbers who became stranded on the Klyuchevskaya volcano. He died before a Russian team of rescuers was able to reach him. Four climbers are still trapped on the mountain, while the remaining 12 have returned safely to base camp. The party was climbing in Kamchatka, a peninsula jutting out into the Pacific Ocean and home to some of the world's most spectacular active volcanoes.

President Vaclav Klaus has accepted the resignation of the justice minister, Pavel Rychetsky. Mr Rychetsky is stepping down in order to take up a position on the Constitutional Court. Prime Minister Vladimir Spidla, who has been having trouble finding a replacement for the outgoing minister, is currently fulfilling the role himself in a caretaker capacity.

Czech Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Minister Pavel Rychetsky gave up his cabinet post on Monday to become a judge at the Constitutional Court. Mr Rychetsky's resignation had been widely expected after he won the president's nomination and Senate approval to fill one of the vacant seats at the country's top court. Under Czech law, no cabinet member can assume the job. The president is expected to formally name three new judges, including Mr Rychetsky at Lany Chateau on Wednesday. Mr Rychetsy's position could remain vacant for weeks while Prime Minister Vladimir Spidla, who temporarily takes over the justice portfolio, looks for a successor. Mr Rychetsky, a fifty-nine year old former lawyer and dissident, has been in top Czech politics since the fall of Communism in 1989.

The Czech Republic may run for elected membership of the UN Security Council in 2008-2009. The foreign ministry is working on a proposal, which is to be submitted to the government and discussed by the cabinet after its summer break. According to Jan Michal from the foreign ministry's UN department, two other unnamed Eastern European countries are planning to apply for UN Security Council membership. The Council has fifteen members - five permanent members and ten elected by the General Assembly for two-year terms. The Czech Republic has only been an elected member once - in 1994 and 1995.