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Czech politicians are trying to reach consensus on a framework for pension reform. The Labour and Social Affairs Minister Zdenek Skromach said there was now agreement across the political spectrum on the need to gradually raise the retirement age for both men and women. However many key issues remain highly controversial. The Social Democrats are in favour of introducing individual pension accounts. Their coalition partners the Christian Democrats propose that people send part of their obligatory pension payments to pension funds, the opposition Civic Democrats are in favour of a low state pension supplemented by private savings while the Communists are in favour of maintaining the pay-as-you-go system.

Czech international footballer Milan Baros will remain in the English Premiership after his side, FC Liverpool, agreed to sell the striker to Aston Villa for a reported 6.5 million pounds. The 24-year-old is believed to have agreed to the terms and faces a medical Tuesday. The move to Aston Villa, where Baros will play with fellow Czech Patrik Berger, comes after weeks of speculation over the striker's future. Last year Baros was Liverpool's joint-top scorer, but faced tough competition this year among fellow Liverpool players.

The charges of damaging private property levelled against the organizer of an open air techno party Vaclav Sroub have been withdrawn. The state attorney returned the case to the police for further investigation, saying that the evidence collected against Sroub did not indicate that he was in any way responsible for damage to private property. The charges were made in the wake of the July techno party CzechTek which was broken up by the police on the grounds that the participants were trespassing on private land. The police have estimated the damage at around 300,000 crowns.

Prince Hamid bin Abdal Sani, a member of Qatar's royal family, who was sentenced to two and a half years in prison by a Czech court for sexual abuse of underage girls, was released from custody late on Monday and has now left the Czech Republic. The Czech Supreme Court on Monday ruled that Abdal Sani could be extradited to face criminal prosecution in Qatar. The court ruling, which is believed to have set an important precedent, complied with an earlier request by Justice Minister Pavel Nemec for Mr Sani to be tried in his homeland.

The government tourist board CzechTourism has revealed the results of a survey looking at reasons why foreigners visit the Czech Republic: according to the poll: relaxation and exploration top the list. According to the board, foreigners come most to visit friends as well as come on business trips and for sports and cultural events. Last year 8 million foreigners visited the Czech Republic - that number is expected to grow by 10 percent this year.

CzechTourism's survey polled some 8,000 respondents in Austria, Germany, Poland, and Slovkia, of whom less than one percent said they had never visited the Czech Republic.

The Czech Supreme Court has ruled that Prince Hamid bin Abdal Sani, a member of Qatar's royal family, may be extradited to face criminal prosecution in Qatar. On Monday the court complied with an earlier request by Justice Minister Pavel Nemec allowing Mr Sani to be tried at home. Earlier this year, in Prague, Mr Sani was sentenced to two and a half years in prison for the sexual abuse of 16 underage girls. He will now be released from custody. Qatari authorities have begun preparing Mr Sani's prosecution; at home the royal could reportedly even face a life sentence.

A member of the ruling Social Democratic Party's executive committee, Marian Kus, has been asked by members of the party's Moravian and Silesian Committee to temporarily give up his post. Mr Kus, listed as a collaborator with the Communist-era secret police, is under suspicion of having forged a lustration certificate in order to clear his name. Prominent Social Democrat leaders like deputy leader Lubomir Zaoralek have expressed dismay over the charge, saying if proven it would make it unacceptable for Mr Kus to remain within party ranks.

Mr Kus himself has not responded to the charge, failing to attend a meeting of the regional executive committee on Monday. He sent only a phone text message explaining he was not in the country.

A spokesman for the Luxembourg-based company, EMV, has said his firm has prepared an arbitration lawsuit against the Czech Republic, blaming the country for having failed to protect a 45 million dollar investment. EMV was a financial partner in the now-defunct regional television broadcaster TV 3. The company has blamed the Czech Republic's Council for Radio & Television Broadcasting (RRTV) for what it called "unlawful conduct" in a broadcasting licence dispute that saw the licence eventually go to a competitor.

EMV's lawsuit is the second case in which a foreign investor has blamed the Czech Republic for failing to protect foreign investment in the media sector. Two years ago an arbitration court awarded the Bermuda-based company CME 10 billion crowns - the equivalent of 354 million US dollars - for losses incurred when the company was cut out of the market-leading private broadcaster TV Nova.

The civic organisation Czech Autoclub has reported that 22 children died in Czech road accidents in the first half of 2005. The number of infant fatalities is a marked increase - up by 14 during the same period last year. The fatalities involved children between the ages of six and fourteen. Most of the children were passengers - almost half of those killed were either not wearing seat belts or were not in protective child car seats.

Former president Vaclav Havel is the greatest euro-optimist on the Czech political scene today while his successor Vaclav Klaus is the most euro-sceptic; this according to a poll of public perceptions by the STEM agency. Asked to name a pro-European politician, aside from Havel, respondents named three high-profile Social Democrat party members: former prime minister Stanislav Gross, the current man in the job, Jiri Paroubek, and ex-premier Vladimir Spidla, now a European Commissioner. Apart from Klaus, the poll found that people consider Civic Democrat leader Mirek Topolanek and Communist party head Miroslav Gerbenicek the most euro-sceptic Czech politicians.