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The Czech Republic has joined a UN Security Council resolution lifting the sanctions imposed on Iraq in 1990 and supporting the renewal of the country. The government-proposed bill was signed on Thursday by President Vaclav Klaus. Among other things, the bill bans the import and export of artefacts that are part of the Iraqi cultural heritage, have a historic, cultural, archaeological, scientific or religious significance or have been stolen from Iraqi cultural institutions.

A Prague court has sentenced a man to 4.5 years in prison for knowingly spreading a communicable disease. According to the court, Rudolf Novak, who is HIV positive, had unprotected sex with at least 10 partners over the course of two years, although he was aware of his condition. Mr Novak's lawyer said that none of his client's partners had been infected.

The Archbishop of Prague, Cardinal Miloslav Vlk, has taken over the symbolic Bethlehem Light from scouts in St Vitus Cathedral at Prague Castle. Cardinal Vlk said he believes that along with the flame lit at the birthplace of Jesus Christ, people bring home love and respect for one another. Until Christmas Eve people can come to light their own candles in the cathedral and also in the lobby of the Czech Radio building in Prague. The Bethlehem Light tradition was established by the Austrian radio station ORF in 1986. In the Czech Republic, this tradition started after the collapse of Communism in 1989. The Bethlehem Light is protected and distributed all over the country by scouts and Czech Radio employees.

The European Commission has concluded that the Czech Republic, along with Cyprus, Malta, Poland and Slovakia, are on track for correcting their excessive deficits. In July, the European Council recommended they take effective action to control their budget deficits. The Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Joaquin Almunia, said on Wednesday, he was pleased to see the recommendations taken seriously, adding that they are appropriate for periods of high growth such as those experienced by the EU states in question.

Taking into account the initial level of the deficit and the ongoing structural shift related to the convergence process, the Council recommended that the excessive deficit be corrected by 2008 in the Czech Republic.

The Ostrava Regional Court has found a 23 year-old Czech woman guilty of dealing in heroin and has sentenced her to eight years in prison. Her twelve Vietnamese accomplices are to be expelled and face jail sentences between nine and ten years. Two of Vietnamese nationals were staying in the Czech Republic illegally. Police say the heroin sold by the gang would have been worth close to two million crowns (some 66,500 euros) on the black market.

Czech President Vaclav Klaus has signed the state budget law for 2005. The law envisages a deficit of 84 billion Czech crowns. However, opposition parties and most economists say the deficit will be much higher, over 100 billion crowns, once the state has covered the losses of the Czech bailout agency, Ceska Konsolidacni Agentura, which primarily ensures the privatisation of state-owned companies.

Mr Klaus also signed an amendment to the income tax law on Wednesday. The new law introduces tax relief for families with children, joint taxation of married couples, and faster depreciation of assets for businesses. The government says it would help families and companies save tens of billions of crowns in the coming years.

Czech breweries expect to export a record 2.4 million hectolitres of beer this year. The Chairman of the Czech Beer and Malt Association, Jan Vesely, said on Wednesday this would be up by 12 per cent from 2003, adding that breweries are preparing a campaign to promote their beer abroad. Germany, Slovakia, Great Britain and the USA, are the main importers of Czech beer. On average, exports rise by between five and twenty percent year- on-year.

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.