News

Hundreds of Greek and foreign tourists, including many Czechs, were evacuated from two hotels in northern Greece because of a forest fire, which broke out on Monday. About 90 Czech children spent the night on a beach as the flames were progressing towards their hotel. According to the Czech Foreign Ministry, all Czech nationals in the area are safe. A decision is imminent on whether to bring them back home and busses are on standby for that purpose.

Czech Airlines reported widening losses on Tuesday. Its first half losses widened to 773 million koruna (27.5 million euros, 35.4 million dollars) from 533 million koruna in the same period last year. The company is now expecting a shortfall of 17.5 million koruna for the full year, equal to its 2005 loss, according to company chairman Radomir Lasak. Lasak ascribed the company's problems to a recent dramatic surge in capacity undertaken in the absence of preparation and necessary restructuring, rather than to a hike in oil prices. The airline is hoping to return to profit in 2008 following a sweeping restructuring which has been in place since the start of the year. The initiative calls for a 10 to 20 percent reduction in personnel.

Prime Minister designate and Civic Democrat leader Mirek Topolanek and Social Democrat chairman and outgoing prime minister Jiri Paroubek met on Monday morning for talks about a future Czech government but the talks have failed to make progress. Mr Paroubek said it was unlikely that his Social Democrats would support a minority Civic Democrat government. Mirek Topolanek, on the other hand, accused Mr Paroubek of blocking the formation of a rightist minority government. Meanwhile the Social Democrat leadership decided later on Monday that the party would continue in the negotiations with the Civic Democrats on a Civic Democrat minority cabinet.

The Civic Democrats won the most votes in a national election in June, but parliament has been deadlocked because the right and left-wing blocs hold the same number of seats in the lower house.

A remembrance ceremony on Monday in front of the Czech Radio building on Prague's Vinohradska Street marked the 38th anniversary of the beginning of the Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968. Officials laid wreaths in front of the Czech Radio building which was the site of the bloodiest fighting in August 1968 between the occupiers and the citizens of Prague. The invasion of Warsaw-Pact troops crushed the reform movement known as the Prague Spring and Soviet units stayed in Czechoslovakia until 1991. More than 70 people were killed and several hundred wounded in the first weeks of the invasion.