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Czech midfielder Karel Poborsky will finish the season with second division Ceske Budejovice after Sparta Prague confirmed on Saturday that he would not return to their squad, Reuters news agency reports. Sparta kept the registration for 33-year old Poborsky when they kicked him out of the squad in September for criticising the then coach Jaroslav Hrebik. The most capped Czech player in history could appear at next year's World Cup in Germany as a second division player.

Sparta are 11th in the Czech league, 17 points behind leaders Slovan Liberec, and finished bottom of their Champions League group with only two points.

The senior party in the ruling coalition government, the Social Democrats, will hold a one-day congress in May at which a new leader will be elected. Finance Minister Bohuslav Sobotka is currently the party's acting leader but the Czech Prime Minister Jiri Paroubek is expected to take up the post to lead the party into the upcoming elections. Results of opinion polls suggest that public support for the Social Democrats is growing steadily. Mr Paroubek is expecting to win over 30-35% of the electorate next year, vowing to step down if he fails.

Some 300 people gathered on Prague's Kampa island to call for another investigation into the police break-up of last July's CzechTek techno music festival in west Bohemia. The protesters say not a single police officer has been charged, while 18 partygoers are being prosecuted. Water canon and tear gas were used during the operation, which left several dozen CzechTek visitors and police officers injured.

The Czech Republic will face the USA in its first match at next year's World Cup in Germany. Friday's draw for the opening round of the 32 team tournament put the Czechs in the E-Group with the United States, Ghana, and Italy. Following the draw, Czech coach Karel Bruckner said preparation for the matches against the US and Ghana will be tough as he has not seen them in action. The Czechs play against the United States on June 12, Ghana on June 17, and Italy on June 22.

A Czech missionary, who was taken hostage by rebel groups in Haiti a few days ago, has been released. Roman Musil, is a 32-year old Roman Catholic of the Order of Mary the Immaculate. He has spent four years in the Caribbean state as a humanitarian aid worker. His kidnappers demanded 50,000 US dollars for his release; the Catholic Church has not revealed whether the ransom was paid.

Doctors in the Moravian town of Brno say they have successfully sown back the nose of an 11 year old boy, which was bitten off and then swallowed by a dog. The nose was in the dog's stomach for two hours, before it was retrieved, disinfected, and operated back on in an 11-hour long operation. The boy, who will be released into home care next week will be able to breathe and smell normally, doctors say.

Some fifty extremists gathered in front of the Austrian embassy in Prague on Saturday to call for the release of British historian and Holocaust denier David Irving. A group of ten men and women, among them Nazi concentration camp survivors, protested against the legal extremists' gathering and were escorted away by the police. David Irving, who is barred from entering Germany, Austria, Canada, and Australia, was arrested in Vienna last month on a 1989 warrant.

Czech rock band Chinaski appeared before 11,000 fans at a sold-out T-Mobile Arena in Prague on Thursday night. Chinaski, who are currently the biggest concert draw in Czech music, are in the middle of an 18-date tour of the country in support of their album Music Bar.

The minister of industry and trade, Milan Urban, says a deal on securing a site for carmaker Hyundia in Moravia must be struck very soon. Speaking after talks with a Hyundia representative on Friday, Mr Urban said December 31st was the deadline for finding a site. Three places are in consideration for the car plant, which would provide a major boost for the economy in the region.

A complete bank ATM machine was stolen from a branch of Komercni banka in Desna, south Moravia on Wednesday night. The thieves used welding equipment to remove the ATM in what was the third such robbery in the Czech Republic.