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A group of Czech architects, designers and film directors have signed a petition in support of London-based architect Jan Kaplicky's design for the new National Library building on Prague's Letna Plain. The green blob-like building has sparked plenty of controversy, and its critics say that it would clash with the surrounding architecture and stand out like a sore thumb on Prague's skyline. President Vaclav Klaus is one of the buildings leading opponents, going so far as to say, that he would fight to prevent the construction of the building with his own body, in a similar fashion to Austrian opponents of the Czech Temelin nuclear power station. The architects who signed the petition in support of Kaplicky say it is time to end the hysteria around the project and let experts -rather than politicians - do the talking.

Czech-born but US passport-carrying tennis legend Martina Navratilova told Saturday's Lidove Noviny that she expected to receive Czech citizenship by the end of the year. "I do not have it yet, because I am not sufficiently organized" the 50-year-old told the paper. In the interview she harshly criticised the current state of the United States under President George Bush. Navratilova said she used to be ashamed of the former communist Czechoslovakia, which she left in 1975 for the US, receiving American citizenship six years later. "Now, I can be ashamed of what is happening in America," she explained. "The thing is that we elected Bush. That is worse! Against that, nobody chose a communist government in Czechoslovakia."

The Czech government has decided to launch a legal challenge against the European Commission's decision to slash its 2008-2012 carbon dioxide emissions quota. The decision was taken at a special government session on Friday. In a statement Environment Minister Martin Riman said he was glad that the coalition government had accepted his decision to launch a lawsuit, indicating that, in his view, the European Commission had damaged the Czech Republic through a complex calculation model and bad data. In March the European Commission cut the proposed Czech carbon emissions quota by 14.8 percent to an annual 86.8 million tonnes between the years 2008 and 2012.

A crowd of around 5,000 residents in the Czech Republic's second-largest city of Brno gathered on Friday to get a chance to see the presidents of 15 central and eastern European states ahead of a two-day conference now underway. Some areas were blocked off to create a corridor for the arrival of the heads of state. The presidents are meeting in Brno as part of an annual conference this year hosted by Czech President Vaclav Klaus. Among topics on the agenda are relations with Russia and dialogue with the European Union, as well as the future of Kosovo and the safety of the Czech nuclear power plant Temelin.