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The Czech Medical Chamber has called on Health Minister David Rath to discuss easing the directive on remunerating medical care. The decree and Mr Rath's policies are opposed by a number of doctors' associations which plan to hold a large protest rally in the centre of Prague later this month. Under the minister's directive, doctors and health-care facilities will receive three percent more money for providing care than they received in the first half of 2005. However, the decree also stipulates strict limits on the use of medicines and certain treatments. If doctors and facilities exceed the limit, they will not be remunerated by health insurance companies and will face penalties.

The tent city which was set up in Prague on January 24 to provide overnight shelter for homeless people will by removed next Wednesday, Prague mayor Pavel Bem told reporters on Thursday. The seven army tents, equipped with wood-burning ovens and toilets, have been providing beds and food for around a hundred homeless people every night. According to estimates, there are some 4,600 homeless people in the Czech capital, while shelters only provide 900 beds. The costs of the operation of the tent city are estimated at just under a million crowns (38,000 dollars).

The United States has filed a request for the extradition of a Swedish citizen arrested at Prague airport during a stop-over in December. Oussama Kassir, who is originally from Lebanon, is accused of trying to set up an al-Qaeda terrorist camp in the US state of Oregon in 2002.

Social Democrat and Communist Deputies joined forces to push through a much disputed new labour code during a session of the Lower House of the Czech Parliament on Wednesday. The opposition Civic Democrats and the two junior ruling coalition parties, the Christian Democrats and the Freedom Union, have expressed fears that it would increase the authority of trade unions and threaten the flexibility of the labour market.

The lower house also approved an amendment to the consumer protection law, which - among other things - would allow for entrepreneurs who violate the law to be fined up to 50 million crowns. The maximum fine currently stands at one million crowns. The labour code and amendment have yet to be approved by the Senate and signed by the President.

Paediatricians, sexologists, social workers and others involved in child care attended a round table discussion in Prague on Wednesday. An estimated 18,000 children in the Czech Republic have been involved in prostitution, pornography, or were victims of some other type of commercial sexual abuse. This constitutes close to one percent of the country's population under the age of 18 years. According to Eva Vanickova from Charles University's medical faculty, it is up to paediatricians to be more attentive and look out for symptoms of abuse. The health ministry also presented a new information booklet on the problem.

The head of the National Security Office, Jan Mares, has resigned. Mr Mares decided to leave office after a police recording of a telephone conversation between him and a man linked to a corrupt gang was made public last week. Although the two men discussed how they could gain contacts at the Presidential Office, Mr Mares maintains that it was an innocent conversation. The government was scheduled to vote on Mr Mares' dismissal during its session late on Wednesday.

The roofs of three indoor tennis courts in north Bohemia and a sports hall in south Moravia have collapsed under the weight of snow. Luckily, no one was hurt. A winter stadium as well as a supermarket had to be evacuated after the heavy accumulated snow made the buildings unstable.

Star ice hockey winger Patrik Elias has been called up for the Czech squad for the Winter Olympics in Turin, after Petr Prucha was ruled out after spraining his ankle. Elias, who plays for New Jersey Devils, returned from a long injury after the original squad was named by coach Alois Hadamczik. The Czech team play their first game against Germany on Wednesday week.

The Czech foreign minister, Cyril Svoboda, has the described a boycott of Danish goods by some Muslim countries as a complete over-reaction to the publication of cartoons of Mohammad in the Danish press. Mr Svoboda said the burning of the flags of European Union states was an attack on values important to Europeans. He made the comments after talks with the European commissioner for trade, Peter Mandelson, who visited Prague on Tuesday. Mr Mandelson called for a sensitive and moderate resolution to the controversy.

A group of Romanies who said they had suffered discrimination at the hands of the Czech education authorities have lost a case against the Czech state at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. Eighteen Romanies from north Moravia said the fact they had been sent to a so-called special school constituted a violation of their human rights. Their claims had previously been dismissed by the Czech Constitutional Court.