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President Klaus has travelled to the west Bohemian spa town of Karlovy Vary for its international film festival. Mr Klaus is due to attend the festival's closing ceremony on Saturday night, and will also find time to play tennis and golf, a spokesman said.

Tuesday was also a holiday in the Czech Republic, in honour of SS Cyril and Methodius, who brought Christianity to the Czech Lands in the 9th century. While many people enjoyed the day off, it was a black one on the country's roads, with 11 people dying in accidents, the highest number for a single day so for this year. The authorities said the number of collisions may have been due to motorists being tired after driving long distances on the state holiday.

It is a state holiday in the Czech Republic, in honour of the Czech religious reformer Jan Hus (John Huss), who died on July 6, 1415. Services dedicated to him have been held in Hussite, Czech Evangelical and other Protestant churches around the country, on this the 590th anniversary of his death.

Born in south Bohemia, he studied in Prague before being made parish priest at the city's Bethlehem chapel. He was strongly influenced by the English reformer John Wycliffe, whose writings he translated into Czech. When Wycliffe's teachings were banned by the Church, Hus protested from the pulpit; he was declared a heretic and excommunicated, before being burnt at the stake.

In 1999 the late Pope John Paul II expressed regret for Hus's killing, though he was not rehabilitated.

A service was held at Bethlehem chapel in honour of Jan Hus on Wednesday, attended by the prime minister, Jiri Paroubek. President Vaclav Klaus, meanwhile, was among the congregation at a service in Husinec, south Bohemia, where the reformer was born around 1370.

The large statue of Hus on Prague's Old Town Square is to be lit up at night from today on.

The biggest event commemorating Cyril and Methodius on Tuesday was the traditional pilgrimage to Velehrad in south Moravia, where the missionaries were based. Cardinal Miloslav Vlk conducted a special service there which was attended by around 30,000 people, including President Vaclav Klaus. Mr Klaus described Velehrad as an important place in Czech history and a living memorial.

Wednesday will also be a state holiday in the Czech Republic, the anniversary of the death of religious reformer Jan Hus.

Bohumil Kulinsky says he is extremely unlikely to remain as director of the Bambini di Praga girls choir, whether or not he is found guilty of sexually abusing several members over a 16-year period. Mr Kulinsky is accused of having had sex with three of the choir and abusing 49 girls. He made the statement in a radio interview on Monday, a few days after being released from custody.

It is a national holiday in the Czech Republic, where Roman Catholics have been remembering Saints Cyril and Methodius, Greek brothers who brought Christianity to the Czech Lands when they arrived in Moravia in 863. They also created the Cyrillic alphabet and translated the Gospels and liturgical books into Slavonic, which at that time had no written form; the two are considered the founders of Slavic literature.

The Cyril and Methodius tradition was also an important element of the 19th century Czech national revival.

Prime Minister Jiri Paroubek said after lunch with former president Vaclav Havel on Tuesday that the two men had very similar views on the European Union, and were in favour of the ratification of the EU's controversial first constitution. Mr Havel's support for the EU constitution is in contrast with the position of his successor Vaclav Klaus, who is strongly opposed to its adoption.

A spokeswoman has revealed that the government agency CzechInvest mediated 70 new domestic and foreign investment projects in the first half of 2005 worth almost 25 billion crowns, or the equivalent of almost 1 billion dollars US. The investments are expected to create up to 8,000 new jobs in coming years. CzechInvest says the number of projects is ten higher than a year ago although the volume of investments has remained the same. Roughly a third of investors are heading for northern Bohemia, a region with the highest unemployment in the Czech Republic. The major investors include Germany, the US, the Czech Republic, and Great Britain. Major areas for investments are the auto industry, electronics, engineering, and chemicals and plastics.

Two helicopters, the Croatian coastguard, as well as a number of volunteers have been searching for a Czech tourist who went missing on Sunday off the Croatian coast, near the island of Brac. The young tourist was reportedly swimming with an inflatable mattress when he was pushed out into the Adriatic by 100 kilometre winds. So far authorities have searched an area of approximately sixteen square kilometres but have been unable to find any sign of the swimmer.

The incident is similar to other developments on Sunday when, for example, a group of four Czech tourists was also swept out on an inflatable mattress and raft - but was rescued.

A new detention centre for young offenders - the first of its kind in the Czech Republic - has seen the arrival of its first wards - two teenage boys, both guilty of murder. One of the boys, just 13, killed an elderly women, the other a young girl. Both of the interned will undergo psychiatric tests and extensive counselling, receiving special education, and allowed occasional visits. Authorities hope to be able to rehabilitate underage criminals by age 18. The new detention centre, specifically designed for young offenders, can intern up to 12 youths at one time. The centre is said to have been designed to appear less threatening than a prison, with for example, unbreakable glass windows instead of bars. At the same time, cameras monitor almost all areas: the exception being personal rooms and washroom areas.