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One of the Czech Republic's most popular rock bands, Lucie, played a concert at the London venue Sheperd's Bush Empire on Friday night. Most of the 1400 people in attendance at the sold-out event were from the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

President Vaclav Klaus has refused to apologise to MP Zdenek Koristka, who claims people acting on behalf of Civic Democrat leader Mirek Topolanek tried to bribe him to bring down the government. The MP wrote to the president on Friday asking for an apology, after Mr Klaus publicly described him as "not completely trustworthy".

Meanwhile, the two men arrested on Thursday on charges of trying to bribe Mr Koristka were released from custody a day later, after the state attorney rejected a police request to hold them on remand.

Zdenek Koristka says Marek Dalik and Jan Vecerek, acting on behalf of Mr Topolanek, offered him 10 million crowns (around 300,000 euros) to bring down the government, which has a majority of just one, in a confidence vote. The Civic Democrats strenuously deny the allegations.

Two men who were detained by the police on Thursday on suspicion of attempting to bribe a member of Parliament have been released on the order of a state attorney. The state attorney said on Friday that the police had not presented sufficient grounds for keeping them in custody. Marek Dalik, adviser to opposition Civic Democratic Party leader Mirek Topolanek, and lobbyist Jan Vecerek, are both suspected of attempting to bribe government coalition MP Zdenek Koristka ahead of a crucial vote in Parliament. Last month, Mr Koristka told a leading Czech daily that someone close to the Civic Democrats had offered him the equivalent of 300,000 euros in exchange for a "no" vote of confidence in the government.

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.

In a related development, Zdenek Koristka has demanded an apology from President Klaus for having labelled him "an unreliable figure" in a statement to the media. Mr. Klaus entered the fray on Thursday, saying he knew Mr. Koristka personally and that he did not consider him to be an altogether reliable figure. Zdenek Koristka underwent a lie detector test recently, which suggested that he was telling the truth. It was on the grounds if this test as well as several testimonies that the police detained the two men on Thursday.

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.

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.

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.