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Prime Minister Jiri Paroubek has asked Interior Minister Frantisek Bublan to explain why police did not intervene during Saturday's concert of neo-Nazi bands in south Bohemia, although racist slogans and the "Sieg Heil" Nazi salute were chanted at the concert. The lower house defence and security committee will discuss the matter on Tuesday.

Czech writer Pavel Kohout and his wife Jelena Masinova failed with their complaint against the Czech Republic over protracted court proceedings, presented to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, the daily Hospodarske noviny wrote on Monday. Mr Kohout and his wife complained about the length of court proceedings deciding on the copyright for a Czechoslovak film on which they participated in the 1960s. The Strasbourg court ruled that the proceedings, which lasted for seven years, were not groundlessly protracted. Until now, 61 complaints against the Czech Republic have been lodged with the Strasbourg court and the country won only four cases including this latest one.

The Czech ambassador to NATO, Stefan Fule, is being investigated by the police's anti-corruption unit, Czech Radio's Radiozurnal reported. Mr Fule is suspected of breaking the law on state secrets and covering up two car accidents in Lithuania when he served there as Czech ambassador.

Fugitive businessman Radovan Krejcir says he is not planning to return from the Seychelles to face trial in the Czech Republic, but says he is willing to co-operate with the Czech courts. He told TV Nova he wanted to clear his name of charges of fraud and planning the murder of a customs officer. In another interview, for Czech Television, Mr Krejcir recounted how he had managed to escape from Czech police two months ago. His wife is also in the Seychelles, where they both have citizenship. She faces charges of money laundering.

The Czech president, Vaclav Klaus, is due to meet the United States vice president, Dick Cheney, and the secretary of state, Condoleeza Rice, during a six-day working visit to the US which begins on Monday. Mr Klaus is also set to open an exhibition in New York dedicated to the 14th century Czech king and holy roman emperor Charles IV.

Police did not intervene during a concert by neo-Nazi rock bands in a pub near Strakonice, south Bohemia on Saturday night. Hundreds of police officers were on guard outside the concert, which was attended by around 500 skinheads and described by anti-Nazi activists as the biggest such gathering this year in the Czech Republic.

Finance Minister Bohuslav Sobotka says Czech sellers and distributors of petrol have been too slow to react to a fall in oil prices. For that reason the government has rejected a proposal to introduce a lower tax rate on petrol, the minister said on Prima TV on Sunday. The cost of a litre of petrol in the Czech Republic recently increased significantly following a rise in oil prices on world markets.

A memorial to underground rock musician Milan "Mejla" Hlavsa has been opened at a building on Prague's Jecna Street where he lived during the 1970s. The memorial is in the form of a jukebox which, for ten crowns, plays his best-known song, "Muchomurky bile".

A plaque has been unveiled in Slavkov, south Moravia, on the site of the famous Battle of the Three Emperors, which took place in 1805. The venue, known internationally as Austerlitz, was the scene of Napoleon Bonaparte's most famous victory, when he destroyed the armies of Russia and Austria, despite having fewer soldiers.

The chairman of the Communist Party, Miroslav Grebenicek, made no mention of his stated intention to resign during a speech at a festival organised by the Communist newspaper Halo noviny. Mr Grebenicek said less than a week ago he was going to step down as party leader. During Saturday's address, however, he merely said the Communists should "pull on the same rope".