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Czech political leaders have reported progress in talks on setting up a caretaker government which would rule the country until early elections planned for the autumn. Representatives of the ruling coalition and the opposition Social Democrats said following talks late on Friday that an agreement on the composition of the proposed cabinet could be ready by Sunday evening and would be presented to the president on Monday. The ruling parties and the opposition were forced to cooperate on producing a new government after President Klaus said that he would not consider naming a prime minister designate anyone who did not have majority support in the lower house. The alternative is that President Klaus himself would put together a transitional cabinet of his own choice. The caretaker cabinet now being compiled by the coalition and opposition parties is likely to consist of career diplomats and non-partisan experts.

Czech winger Vladimír Šmicer told journalists on Friday that he was getting ready for a knee surgery at a prestigious clinic in Antwerp, Belgium. He said he would decide on his future based on the result. Šmicer, who has had knee cartilage problems since a winter training camp and has not appeared in a single game in the spring, said he had already visited the Antwerp clinic for a pre-op check-up on Wednesday. The 2005 Champions League winner with Liverpool has played 81 matches and scored 27 goals for the Czech national team in 1993-2005. Šmicer made history by scoring at three consecutive European championships -- in 1996, 2000 and 2004.

Meanwhile, a two-day meeting of finance ministers from around the European Union gets underway in Prague on Friday, with increasing regulation of the financial sector across the bloc highest on the agenda. The meeting will be chaired by Czech Finance Minister Miroslav Kalousek and will also provide ministers with a platform to expand upon the decisions made at the G20 summit held in London on Thursday. The meeting is also being attended by the head of the European Central Bank Jean-Claude Trichet and former head of the IMF Jacques de Larosiere.

Political leaders entered into a further round of negotiations to solve the ongoing government crisis on Friday, with Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek and the head of the opposition Social Democrats Jiří Paroubek meeting for talks. Neither party would say what had been discussed after the meeting, though Mr Paroubek said later at a press conference that he wanted a solution to the government crisis before the week was out. Mr Paroubek also spoke with the head of the Communists Vojtěch Filip on Friday morning. The Civic Democrats and Social Democrats have tentatively agreed to form a caretaker cabinet, comprising ministers from both parties and potentially also the Communists, to tide the Parliament over until early elections.