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The number of Czechs seeking asylum in Britain has decreased dramatically. According to the British government, up to 300 asylum seekers from the eastern European candidate countries for EU membership, especially the Czech Republic, were recorded weekly during the autumn of last year. Today, only a handful apply for asylum daily. Last year, a law was introduced in Great Britain stating that all ten candidate countries for EU membership are "safe". This has drastically reduced the chances of most Czechs, especially Roma, being granted asylum.

Friday's election - the second in 10 days - ended in failure after none of the three candidates won a sufficient majority. Former Prime Minister Vaclav Klaus - nominated by the opposition Civic Democrats - once again made the strongest showing, falling just 14 votes short of becoming president. Senator Jaroslava Moserova, nominated by the two smaller parties in the ruling coalition, came second.

Several hundred people marched through the centre of Prague on Sunday to protest against a possible war on Iraq. Police said around 200 people attended the march, from the city's Wenceslas Square to the American embassy in Mala Strana. Among the demonstrators were American expatriates living in Prague and Czech anarchist groups. There was a brief confrontation when several Arab demonstrators carrying pictures of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein tried to join the march. Police say otherwise there were no incidents and the march passed off peacefully.

Prime Minister Vladimir Spidla has said poor strategy was to blame for the second failed attempt to elect a successor to President Vaclav Havel on Friday. Mr Spidla, leader of the senior coalition Social Democrats, said nominating the party's former leader Milos Zeman was a mistake. Mr Zeman was knocked out in the first round of the election, a joint session of the two houses of parliament. Mr Zeman's poor showing has highlighted deep divisions within the Social Democrats, after it emerged that many in his own party voted against him. Mr Spidla - who bitterly opposed Mr Zeman's nomination - says any consequences of the failure will be decided at the Social Democrats' national conference in March.