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The Bohemia Jazz Fest began its fourth year on Prague’s Old Town Square on Sunday with a concert by American saxophonist Chris Potter and several thousand spectators in attendance. The event is to continue in Old Town through Monday and will then head to other town squares around the Czech Republic, winding up in České Budějovice on July 19th. The festival’s organisers estimate that last year’s programme was attended by 20,000 spectators in Prague alone.

The Belgian-Canadian film “Angel at Sea” won the prize for the best film at the 44th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival on Saturday night. The film – which recounts the life of a 12-year-old boy with a manic depressive father – is the first feature length film of Belgian director Frédéric Dumont. The best actor award was shared by Olivier Gourmet, who played the father in the film, and American Paul Giamatti for his role in the film “Cold Souls.” Germany’s Andreas Dresen won the best director award for the film “Whisky and Vodka.” The best actress was Denmark’s Paprika Steen for her role in “Applause.” American actor, producer and director, John Malkovich, accepted a special prize for his lifetime contribution to cinema.

Czech Foreign Minister Jan Kohout said on Sunday that a fall in the number of asylum applications by Czechs in Canada could help stave off the threat that Ottawa will reintroduce visas. Mr Kohout said that applications had fallen in recent weeks. “It is a very positive signal which Canada is also taking into account,” he said in a tv interview on Sunday.

Canada is reported to be on the verge of reintroducing visa requirements for Czechs because of the surge in applications for asylum, largely from the Czech Roma community. While not ruling out a comeback for visas, Mr Kohout said it should not happen in the next days. He said other procedures such as electronic registration or stepped up airport controls could help avoid such a step. Mr Kohout added that he expected the EU to impose visas requirements on Canada in reply to any move against the Czech Republic. If this did not happen, Prague would lodge a complaint with the European Court of Justice for lack of solidarity, he said.

Czechs lodged 1,720 applications for asylum since the start of the year according to figures from the Canadian embassy in Prague. The newspaper Dnes reported on Saturday suggested that many Roma who left for Canada now wanted to return.

A rift in the caretaker government has broken out over the dismissal of deputy justice minister František Korbel. The Green Party has said it will seek an explanation over the fate of its man from Prime Minister Jan Fischer and has called for the resignation of Justice Minister Daniela Kovárová. Green Party leader Ondřej Liška said he was not consulted about the dismissal and complained of the weak reasons behind it. Mr Korbel is rumoured to have been picked out because of his criticism of manipulation of the law by top state legal officials. The Green Party helped form the caretaker government alongside the two main parties, the Civic Democrats and Social Democrats.