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The vacant position of head of the Czech Republic's Supreme Audit Office is unlikely to be filled during the term of the current government, Labour Minister Zdenek Skromach said on Tuesday. He said the three parties in the coalition were unable to agree on a replacement for Lubomir Volenik, who died almost 18 months ago.

More than half of the Senate's budget for flights has been spent by one member from north Moravia, the daily Mlada fronta Dnes reported Tuesday. Ondrej Feber, the senator for Karvina, said that he flew so often because he needed to be close to his voters.

Around 20,000 litres of radioactive water leaked out of the Temelin nuclear power plant in the southwest of the Czech Republic on Monday. According to a spokesman, the leak, caused by a water-level measuring problem in a reservoir, was contained within a limited area and did not pose a risk to the environment or to workers' health. Temelin's opponents say it is unsafe and should be shut down.

Two police officers charged with abuse of power have been dismissed from the police force. Zdenek Pichlik and Petr Sima, whose field was organized crime, were arrested by a team of inspectors from the Interior Ministry and have been in custody since Saturday.

Mobile phone operator Eurotel has failed in a court appeal against a fine of 48 million crowns (over 1.5 million euros) for abusing its dominant position on the Czech market. Eurotel and another operator Radiomobil were found guilty in 2002 of charging customers more for calls to a third operator than between their own networks.

The last 2,000 conscripts in the Czech Army are due to leave their barracks on Wednesday, ending 140 years of compulsory military service in the Czech Lands. Throughout the year the Army has gradually been replacing conscripts with career soldiers. The move makes the Czech Republic one of the first countries in the region with a professional military. However, Joint Forces Commander Josef Sedlak warned on Tuesday of overly high expectations of the new army. He also said professionals could expect tougher training than their conscript counterparts.

Most members of the Ostrava ice hockey team injured in a motorway crash on Monday have been allowed home. The team's trainer Karel Metelka died in the accident, which occurred when their bus crashed into the back of a truck a short distance from Beroun, where the team were due to play a match.

Czech Railways' new express train, the "Pendolino", will carry its first passengers during a test ride on Thursday. A spokesman for Czech Railways said the company will test the train on several regular express routes in the coming months to complete its trial operation. As of next December, the Italian-made Pendolino is expected to be used on international lines. The train's speed record in the Czech Republic is 237 kilometres per hour.

The Czech Foreign Minister Cyril Svoboda who is on a three-day official visit to Israel has met his Israeli counterpart Silvan Shalom for talks on the relations between the EU and Israel. After the meeting Mr Svoboda said that every country has a right to defend its territory and its citizens. He also said that the Czech Republic supports the Israeli proposal to add the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah to the European Union's list of terrorist organisations. Mr Svoboda also spoke in favour of an increased participation of the EU and NATO in the Middle East peace process.

Czech police say they have detained 19 illegal immigrants from China together with two smugglers at the Bila-Konecna border crossing between the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The 18 men and one woman were found hiding in the boot of a van by police who were checking the vehicle, a police spokeswoman said. A week ago police in the region detained 10 illegal immigrants from Asia.