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A Boeing 737 operated by the Czech-owned charter carrier Travel Service was forced to make an unscheduled landing on Saturday due to technical problems. The plane landed in the city of Brno while en route to the Greek island of Crete. According to the carrier, none of the 180 passengers or crew suffered injury. A replacement plane then took passengers on to their original destination.

Travel Service is the Czech Republic's biggest domestic charter carrier. On September 1st another of company's 737 experienced problems en route to Alicante, Spain, forced to make an emergency landing in France.

Czech javelin thrower and three-time Olympic Gold medal champion Jan Zelezny finished 4th on Saturday at the World Athletics final in Monte Carlo. The world-record holder threw a distance of 83.98 metres but finished just behind Makarov of Russia. Thorkildsen of Norway was 2nd, while Finland's Pitkamaki was 1st.

The Deputy Prime Minister for the Economy Martin Jahn, not affiliated with any political party, is a step closer to leading the Social Democratic Party in the Prague riding in national elections next year. If he takes the post, he will face off against right-of-centre Civic Democratic Party leader Miroslav Topolanek. An overwhelming majority of the Social Democrats' regional executive committee put forward Jahn's name on Saturday.

Not all within the Social Democratic Party agree with the decision: some members say that choosing an independent candidate for Prague will play into political opponents' hands.

Four Czech soldiers were injured in Kuwait on Friday evening - one of them seriously - when their vehicle, a Land Rover, flipped on its side. A tire defect was responsible for the accident. All four men were hospitalised but three were released on Saturday. The fourth remains in critical condition.

The Czech Republic has a number of soldiers in the region: around 100 military police are stationed training police officers in neighbouring Iraq.

The Czech President Vaclav Klaus has once again criticised non-governmental organisations, or NGOs. Speaking at a business conference on Saturday Mr Klaus likened so-called "NGOism" to communist ideology, saying that he considered non-governmental organisations 'dangerous' and 'undemocratic'. Earlier this year, at the Council of Europe summit in Warsaw, Mr Klaus made similar statements describing the role of NGOs in what he has called 'post-democracy'. His words then provoked strong reaction, with many NGO representatives calling on the president to apologise. But, the president did not comply.

Two new Hollywood films are to be shot at Prague's Barrandov studios. Young Hannibal (Behind the Mask) - based on the character Hannibal Lector from Silence of the Lambs - starts shooting next month, as does a remake of the 1970s horror movie The Omen.

The Czech economy grew by 5.1 percent in the second quarter of this year, its fastest rise since the same period in 1996, the Statistical Office said on Friday. Deputy Prime Minister for the Economy Martin Jahn said the growth was due to foreign investment and the utilisation of European Union funds.

After a five-month break the new Czech ice hockey league season began on Friday evening. Slavia Prague are the bookies' favourites to win the Extraliga, which comes to an end next April.

The interior minister, Frantisek Bublan, says the government will try to persuade Czech telecommunications operators to help finance the provision of data on users, as part of the state's anti-terrorism strategy. Operators now keep such data for three months, but under proposed European Union legislation data would be kept for 12 months; this would cost the state a great deal in additional charges, said Mr Bublan, who was speaking at a meeting of EU interior ministers in England.

The United States will not for the moment take up a Czech government offer to send material aid and specialist workers to help deal with the consequences of Hurricane Katrina. Speaking after talks with the Czech prime minister, Jiri Paroubek, the US ambassador to Prague, William Cabaniss, said it was necessary to first establish priorities for aid in the states affected by the disaster.