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Police president Vladislav Husak has punished the deputy head of the Prague police force Zdenek Bezouska in connection with the May-day incident in which a police officer attacked human rights government representative Katerina Jacques who was taking part in a protest against a neo-Nazi demonstration in Prague. Bezouska has been demoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel for a period of six months. The police officer who attacked Jacques has been suspended and faces criminal charges. Several other officers have been punished in connection with the assault. Ms Jacques said on Tuesday that she was happy with the way the matter had been handled.

The Social Democrats are courting the Green Party as a possible coalition partner, should talks on a centre right government fail. The leader of the Green Party Martin Bursik said tentative attempts had been made to convince him that the Civic Democrats were not a good partner and cared little for environmental protection. Although in terms of their policy programme the Greens are closer to the Social Democrats, the party has refused to consider being part of a government that would have to rely on support from the Communist Party.

President Vaclav Klaus is expecting to be de-briefed by Interior Minister Frantisek Bublan on progress on the so-called Kubice case at Prague Castle on Wednesday. Jan Kubice, who heads the country's elite organized crime squad, said in a report to the lower house just days before the June general elections that high placed government officials had tried to thwart criminal investigations on a number of cases in order to protect party colleagues. He indicated that organized crime had penetrated state administration. The president has called for a speedy and unbiased investigation into the claims. The outgoing Prime Minister Jiri Paroubek insists that the allegations were part of a smear campaign against his party on the eve of the elections.

Czech striker Jan Koller has strained his hamstring and may not be fit until the quarter-final stage of the World Cup, the team's doctor said on Tuesday. "It could anything between 10 days and six weeks," doctor Jiri Foucek told reporters. Koller was carried off on a stretcher just before halftime in Monday's game against the United States, which the Czech Republic won 3:0, thanks in part to an early goal from Koller. There have been conflicting reports over the severity of the injury, with a number of media sites on Tuesday reporting that Koller would be ready to practice as early as this Friday.

The Civic Democrats, the Christian Democrats, and the Green Party are holding another round of talks on forming a centre-right coalition government on Tuesday evening. The parties' representatives say that they have reached agreement on tax reform and are now seeking to find common ground on the mainstays of health and pension reform. Despite progress in negotiations, the future of a centre-right coalition is shaky since the three parties do not have a majority in the lower house. The Social Democrats have so far refused to support a centre-right coalition although talks continue behind closed doors.

An opinion survey conducted by the Factum Invenio agency has indicated that the leader of the centre-right Civic Democrats Mirek Topolanek enjoys greater public support than his rival Social Democrat leader Jiri Paroubek. A third of respondents said they would prefer to see Mr. Topolanek as the country's next prime minister. The outgoing prime minister, Jiri Paroubek, was only supported by a quarter of those polled.

The Czech Republic has beaten the United States 3:0 in a crucial World Cup Group E match. Jan Koller opened the scoring in the fifth minute, nodding home a right wing cross from Zdenek Grygera that eluded two US defenders. Tomas Rosicky gave the Czechs a 2-0 lead in the 36th minute, blasting a right-footed 25-metre shot past Keller who dived to his left in a vain attempt to deny the midfielder. Rosicky scored a third goal in the 76th minute.

The Independents political movement has lodged a complaint with the Supreme Administrative Court questioning the validity of the June 2-3 elections, the Independents' election leader Jana Hamplova said on Monday. She said that the Independents want the court to rule that the mandates of 200 deputies elected over a week ago are invalid. The Independents argue that the public service Czech Television only provided space in its pre-election discussion programmes to five political parties that later emerged successful from the election and therefore created the impression that there were only five electable parties on the Czech political scene.

According to the Supreme Administrative Court, it is the 26th complaint regarding the elections it has received, but it is the first complaint filed by a political party or movement.

The Czech Environmental Inspection office has decided to fine the chemicals maker Draslovka 2 million crowns for a leak of hazardous cyanides into the Elbe River in January. The firm will pay 1.9 million crowns (86,000 dollars) for illegal release of dangerous material and 100,000 crowns for failing to announce a warning in time. Company representatives said they respected the decision, adding that the firm wanted to invest 30 million crowns in special preventative and corrective measures this year. In January a cyanide leak from Draslovka killed some 10 tonnes of fish in an 83-kilometre stretch of the Elbe. Neighbouring Germany complained at the time that it had received the information about the accident too late.

The Czech power utility CEZ said on Monday that Western European power companies, faced with a shortage of skilled technicians and amid expectations of a nuclear power renaissance, are headhunting Czech nuclear power experts. A CEZ spokesman said that many western European countries had run down their nuclear industries and now lacked the necessary experts. The head of the Czech Nuclear Society, Vaclav Hanus, said that some new graduates in nuclear subjects had already taken up offers in Britain. He said British companies were prepared to offer 10,000 pounds (18,400 dollars) as a welcome bonus to new recruits. CEZ, which operates two nuclear power plants in the Czech Republic, says it sees the situation as a threat.