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Around 1,500 police, stuntmen and emergency service workers were involved in a counter-terrorism exercise in Prague and the town of Kralupy nad Vltavou early on Friday. Simulated bombs exploded in the carriage of a train at a metro station in the centre of Prague and in a train in the town of Kralupy around 1 am on Friday. Police also sealed off a Prague train station after discovering a suspicious bag and arrested an alleged 'terrorist' at the station. The two-million-crown (82,000-dollar) exercise, sparked by the July attacks in London, was watched by Prime Minister Jiri Paroubek and Interior Minister Frantisek Bublan. The interior ministry said the objective of the exercise was to test emergency rescue plans and the preparedness of Prague's metro system to cope with such a situation.

No Czech citizens were involved in the preparation of a terrorist attack which the Czech counter-intelligence service, the BIS, helped thwart in the past months, a spokesman for the BIS has said. The counter-intelligence service received the first signals that Arab-looking persons living in Spain were greatly interested in buying weapons in the Czech Republic in the summer of 2004. The information proved reliable and the suspects were later detained. The planned attack, thwarted in a joint Czech-Spanish operation, was not to be carried out in the Czech Republic.

Czech midfielder Karel Poborsky will join second division Ceske Budejovice on loan after being kicked out of Sparta Prague's squad. The 33-year-old Poborsky remains a Sparta player without any changes to his contract but will join Budejovice for three months, the club said on Friday. Poborsky is a co-owner of Budejovice, which was his first club. He stepped down as Sparta team captain on Wednesday and was thrown out of the squad after criticising coach Jaroslav Hrebik, who had put him on the bench for the last two league games. Poborsky and Sparta have agreed to resume talks after January 1. Poborsky, who has played for Lazio, Benfica and Manchester United, is the most capped Czech player in history.

The cabinet has approved a controversial new Labour Code draft submitted by Social Democrat Labour and Social Affairs Minister Zdenek Skromach. The coalition Christian Democrats came out against the bill, while the smallest coalition party, the Freedom Union, abstained from the vote. The Christian Democrats said they would vote for the draft if sections regarding powers of trade unions were removed. The draft will now go to the Lower House, where the Social Democrats are likely to appeal to the Communist Party for support. T he current Labour Code has been in force since 1966. In the last fifteen years there have been dozens of amendments added, with experts say the code has become too complicated and unclear. If the draft passes in Parliament and is signed by the President, it will be the biggest change in labour legislation since 1990.