News

According to Czech Radio's Radiozurnal service Jan Klas - the chairman of the Chamber of Deputies' committee monitoring the Czech intelligence service (BIS) - has failed to pass new security vetting allowing him to access top secret information. Czech Radio reported on Monday that Mr Klas had already received the announcement on the decision by the National Security Office. However, Mr Klas has denied his failure to pass and told the station that the matter had not yet been decided and that a final decision would be made public within a number of days.

Star Czech football midfielder Pavel Nedved has not yet recovered from a knee injury he suffered in the semi-final of the Euro 2004 championship in July. Mr Nedved, who plays for Italy's Juventus Turin, will therefore be unable to help his side in an upcoming qualification game for the Champions League. Meanwhile, Czech striker, Milan Baros, is not likely to start in his side's bid against Austria's AK Graz in a qualification game for the Champions League on Tuesday. Baros, who plays for Liverpool, scored the most goals at Euro 2004, but is reportedly being overshadowed by newly-acquired striker Djibril Cisse.

President Vaclav Klaus has criticised as "toothless" the policies outlined in the coalition agreement between the three parties in the new government. Speaking on Czech Television on Sunday, Mr Klaus said the agreement was vague and did not make the government's top policy priorities clear.

The President also took the opportunity to take a swipe at the opposition Civic Democrats, saying they should have reacted to the new government more quickly. Mr Klaus said the party, of which he is honorary chairman, should be more concerned with the present than possible future developments.

On the issue of former prime minister Vladimir Spidla being chosen as the Czech Republic's next European commissioner, President Klaus was highly critical, saying it was a "con" and a "mistake". Mr Spidla was given the job ahead of Pavel Telicka, the man he himself had chosen to represent the country on the European Commission. The former prime minister will take over from Mr Telicka in November.

Hope was fading on Sunday for any remaining mountaineers - many of them believed to be Czechs - trapped by avalanches high on a mountainside in Kyrgyzstan, a local official said. Five Czechs and one Russian were confirmed killed on Thursday after avalanches on the 7,000-metre Khan-Tengri peak.

Meanwhile a Czech climber has fallen to his death in the High Tatra Mountains in Slovakia, a mountain rescue worker said on Sunday. Ten Czech mountaineers have died in the Tatras this year.