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The deputy leader of the senior coalition Social Democrats, Zdenek Skromach, has said discussion on the proposed reform of the country's healthcare system has been postponed. Mr Skromach said the proposals, submitted by the Health Minister Marie Souckova, had been taken off the agenda of Sunday's talks between coalition leaders. Mr Skromach said there would not be enough time for a discussion on both tax and healthcare reform. The proposed healthcare reforms are controversial, as they envisage reducing the number of doctors and increasing the financial burden on the patient.

Czech President Vaclav Klaus and Russian Ambassador Igor Savolsky met at the presidential retreat at Lany on Friday. Mr Savolsky, who has been representing his country in the Czech Republic for three years, is expected to leave his post early this year. He has been meeting with senior Czech politicians this week to discuss Czech-Russian relations before his departure. Both President Klaus and Prime Minister Vladimir Spidla, with whom Mr Savolsky met on Thursday, agree that economic and political bilateral relations are at their best since the fall of Communism. Mr Savolsky's most likely successor is Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexej Fedotov.

Ten Czech police instructors have left for Jordan, where they will help train Iraqi police officers. The Czech officers will be divided into two teams and be rotated every six months, a police spokesman said on Wednesday. The training will be of both a practical and theoretical nature, and is being financed jointly by the Czech Interior Ministry and the US-led Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq.

The Senate has approved the sending of around 150 Czech soldiers to Afghanistan. The Chamber of Deputies is due to vote on the issue in the middle of February and the government hopes to send the troops, most of them members of the Czech Army's Special Forces, in the middle of April.