News

The Atlantik financial group, which bought up debts held by the Czech Republic's largest travel agency Fischer Travel just over a week ago, has yet to reach agreement with the Allianz insurance company over insurance coverage for the travel agency's three leased passenger jets. Allianz spokesman Milan Kana made the announcement on Tuesday, saying talks would continue. Meanwhile Atlantik has declined to comment. The Allianz insurance company cancelled the travel agency's contract in late July over unpaid debts, meaning that unless a new contract is renegotiated, the Fischer agency's planes will only be allowed to fly until the end of August. The Atlantik financial group is reportedly negotiating to pay off several million crowns in debt and to have a new contract extended as of September.

President Vaclav Klaus announced on Thursday he was once again recommending lawyer Ales Pejchal to become a judge of the Constitutional Court. Mr Pejchal, whose candidacy was rejected by the Senate, was recommended only one day after the Senate also rejected three of four other candidates proposed by President Klaus. Only Civic Democrat senator Dagmar Lastovecka was successful in Wednesday's Senate vote. The other candidates, lawyers Vladimir Balas, Vaclav Pavlicek, and Klara Vesela-Samkova, did not receive a majority approval. Mr Pejchal was rejected by the Senate in July.

Out of nine candidates for Constitutional Court judges, the Senate has so far approved only five. Two of the five, Vojen Guettler and Pavel Hollaender, had been Constitutional Court judges in the previous term already. The other three approved judges come from parliament. They are former Justice Minister and ex-senator Pavel Rychetsky, former senator Dagmar Lastovecka and former MP Miloslav Vyborny.

The Russian Emergency Situations Ministry has said that rescuers led members of an ill-fated Czech climbing expedition to safety on Thursday after one man died on a volcano on the eastern Kamchatka Peninsula. The nineteen remaining members of the Czech group were recovering after a three-day ordeal on the Klyuchevskoi volcano. The rescuers climbed the volcano again to retrieve the body of a 44-year-old man who died after he was hit on the head by a falling rock last Monday. The Czech group was unable to move the fatally injured man and waited in thick fog for help.

A Czech mountaineer has died after his climbing party hit bad weather on a volcano in Russia's far east. Officials said the man had apparently died of head injuries. The man, who has not been named, was part of a group of 17 Czech climbers who became stranded on the Klyuchevskaya volcano. He died before a Russian team of rescuers was able to reach him. Four climbers are still trapped on the mountain, while the remaining 12 have returned safely to base camp. The party was climbing in Kamchatka, a peninsula jutting out into the Pacific Ocean and home to some of the world's most spectacular active volcanoes.