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The US will refrain from introducing import duties on glass and glass products from EU member states, according to the deputy prime minister for the economy Martin Jahn. The move would have led many Czech glass making firms into bankruptcy and Czech officials have made a big effort to persuade the US authorities against it. The US is expected to definitively confirm the decision to the World Trade Organization within the next few hours.

Police say they have detained two men who are suspected of attempting to bribe government coalition MP Zdenek Koristka ahead of a crucial vote in parliament. The men are Marek Dalik, an adviser to the head of the opposition Civic Democrats Mirek Topolanek, and lobbyist Jan Vecerek. Last month, Mr Koristka told a leading Czech daily that an unnamed figure from the Civic Democrats had offered him the equivalent of 300,000 euros in exchange for a "no" vote in a confidence vote, which would have brought down the new government of Prime Minister Stanislav Gross. If found guilty, the two men detained on Thursday face one to five years in prison.

The Czech Republic is in favour of Germany, Japan and a representative of Africa, Asia and South America being given permanent places on the United Nations Security Council, the Czech Foreign Minister, Cyril Svoboda, said in a speech to the UN General Assembly on Wednesday. He said the Czech Republic would itself like to have a seat on the Security Council in 2008 and 2009. Mr Svoboda also said no one could remain neutral in the fight against international terrorism, which, he said spared no one, anywhere in the world.

Former Czech president Vaclav Havel is one of 100 influential figures who have signed an open letter calling on European Union and NATO member states to change their approach to Russia, where they say President Vladimir Putin is using the Beslan school massacre as a pretext to undermining democracy in the country. Other signatories include former Swedish prime minister Carl Bildt and political scientist Francis Fukuyama.

Cage beds may be used in social care institutions in cases where clients threaten their own health or the health of others, according to new rules approved by the government on Wednesday. The use of cage beds would also have to be registered under the regulations, which have yet to be discussed by parliament. Former health minister Josef Kubinyi banned cage beds in July, after criticism by Joanne Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter books.

The Supreme Audit Office has criticised the manner in which the Defence Ministry spent NATO funds between 1999 and 2003. The Office pointed to inconsistencies, poor accounting and confusion in the Ministry's records in a report released on Wednesday. The Defence Ministry's right hand often did not know what its left hand was doing, said a spokesman for the Supreme Audit Office.

The Czech team won a total of 31 medals at the Athens Paralympics, which came to an end on Tuesday evening. The Czech Republic took 16 gold medals, eight silver and seven bronze. The overall tally was down on the Sydney Games four years ago, when the country won 43 medals.

Some 300 people demonstrated on the main square of the Czech border town of Cheb on Tuesday against the supposed "Germanisation" of the Czech Republic and its loss of sovereignty. The Club of Czech Demonstrators (KCP) was protesting against what members see as excessive German ownership of formerly fully Czech-owned businesses.

A 22-year-old university student fell to his death from the window of his seventh-floor dormitory room in Plzen during the early hours of Tuesday morning. The young man's roommates told police they had gone to bed Monday night without incident. The students had been drinking and initial information points to an unfortunate accident rather than suicide or foul play.

Tereza Hurikova of the Czech Republic won the junior time trial to take home the first gold medal and rainbow jersey of the world road cycling championships, which got underway in Italy on Monday. Hurikova had lost three minutes fixing a mechanical failure on her bike which cost her the lead at the cross country worlds. This month she won a bronze medal in the junior race at the cross country worlds in France.