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Ales Loprais, the nephew of famous Czech truck racer Karel Loprais, will compete for the second time as a driver in the truck category at the Dakar Rally. The younger driver, who is in his late 20s, came in third in his first appearance last year. His uncle won the famous race twice: in its tenth and twentieth editions. The thirtieth edition kicks off on January 5.

A day after falling to Canada 3:0 in their opener at the World Junior Ice Hockey Championship in Pardubice, the Czechs rebounded with a win over Denmark. The Czech team’s captain, Micahel Frolik, put the Czechs ahead early in the first period by scoring a natural hat trick. The Czechs added two more in the second, before the Danes pulled back with two goals. On Saturday the Czechs will face Slovakia.

All three parties in the centre-right government have promised to support the pension reform bill in its first reading in the lower house. The draft, proposed by Civic Democrat Labour Minister Petr Necas, outlines radical changes to the current pay-as-you-go system, including a higher retirement age for both men and women and a longer period of mandatory insurance. Although in earlier years there was general consensus that the pension reform should receive support across the political spectrum, now Minister Necas says that the need for reform is so pressing he wants it approved with or without support from the opposition parties. The Greens and Christian Democrats have both promised to support it in its first reading in the lower house.

The popularity of presidential candidate Jan Svejnar is growing. Mr. Svejnar, a professor of economics with dual Czech-American citizenship, is Mr. Klaus’ only rival in the February presidential elections. According to polls conducted by the STEM agency public support for Mr. Svejnar has jumped from 15 percent in November to 35 percent in December. On the other hand support for incumbent president Vaclav Klaus dropped from 62 to 35 percent. Commentators say this could be due to Mr. Svejnar’s American–style election campaign and President Klaus’ refusal to take part in a televised debate with him, on the grounds that his views are well known already. Vaclav Klaus has now revised his stand and says he is ready to take on his rival in a debate in Parliament, since it is deputies and senators who will be electing the future head of state. The Communist Party has not ruled out nominating its own candidate for the presidency, so there could in the end be three candidates running for office.