News

A poll conducted by the Media Institute and published in the Mlada fronta Dnes daily on Saturday, suggests that 67 percent of Czechs approve of the new transport law which introduced tougher punishments for driving offences. According to the poll, most Czechs believe that drivers will be more cautious and there will be fewer accidents. Over two-thirds of drivers admit that the new law has forced them to change their driving habits. Since the law took effect on July 1st, 43 people have been killed on Czech roads. During the same period last year, the number was 73, Mlada fronta Dnes writes.

The Social Democrats have withdrawn the candidacy of MP Lubomir Zaoralek for the post of lower house chairman. As Mr. Zaoralek was the only nominee for the post, the election, originally scheduled for Friday, has been postponed until late next week. The Social Democrats say that they withdrew their candidate because they were not able to secure enough support for Mr. Zaoralek prior to the vote.

Meanwhile, the two largest Czech political parties, the Civic Democrats and the Social Democrats, continue to try and negotiate a way out of the parliamentary deadlock. The Social Democrats, who came second in last month's election, have agreed to meet next week with coalition partners the Civic Democrats, the Christian Democrats, and the Greens to discuss policy priorities. Talks on the formation of a new government have been going on for some six weeks, since a national election resulted in a perfect split in the lower house of the Czech Parliament.

The Czech Foreign Ministry continues to warn Czech nationals in Lebanon to leave the country amid the continuing conflict between Israel and Lebanon. Czech citizens are being advised not to travel to Lebanon. A group of Czechs returned to Prague in the early hours of Friday, and another group is traveling to the Czech Republic via Syria and Cyprus. In addition to organizing these evacuations, the Czech government has decided to allocate 5 million crowns for humanitarian aid to Lebanon.

Police in the south Moravian region of Brno have seized 118 rare birds from a private collector in the small town of Ujezd. Among the animals were species listed as internationally endangered, and others which are protected by Czech law. The owner of the property faces up to three years in prison, or a monetary fine. The rescued birds have found temporary shelter at the Brno zoo.