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Police are unable to determine the identities of two men who were killed in the crash of an ultra-light aircraft near Karlovy Vary Saturday evening. Fire crews found the burnt remains of the men laying near the ruins of the plane, which was still on fire when they arrived. The cause of the crash is unknown and is under investigation. The aircraft’s automatic rescue system and parachute had been launched.

Prime Minister Nečas has told an ideological conference of his party that the government will concentrate primarily on pro-growth measures after the Chamber of Deputies renewed its mandate on Friday. The government’s top goal of balanced budgets could not be attained without a growing economy, he said. Analysts have voiced concern that the budgetary cuts the government approved in early April will decrease the performance of the economy. Mr Nečas said that for that reason the government will now concentrate on renewing economic growth.

Police have begun an investigation into accusations that the lottery company Sazka defrauded T-Mobile customers of 230 million crowns. The telecommunications firm has yet to receive the money, which its customers spent on lottery terminals in the spring of last year, and claims that Sazka kept it. The largest betting company in the Czech Republic, Sazka was declared bankrupt last spring and its business activities have been taken over by the finance companies PPF and KKCG.

Hackers using the moniker Anonymous shut down the governing parties’ websites on Saturday. The Civic Democratic Party and TOP 09 took their sites offline for security reasons after it became apparent that a strong attack was underway. The website of the Communist Party was also down Saturday afternoon, while the Public Affairs website was slow. Anonymous warned of the attack ahead of time as part of an initiative called “Together for Change! We Want Real Democracy!” The opposition Social Democrats said they did not condone the attack, but that they considered it an expression of a broad feeling of helplessness and dissatisfaction in society.

Former prime minister and presidential candidate Jan Fischer has opened his first election office in Prague’s Žižkov district, where he will meet with citizens and representatives of various organisations. A statistician, Mr Fischer was appointed to run an interim technocratic government in 2009; he has since led the polls in political popularity and has a strong lead over the other candidates for president, among them economist Jan Švejnar, former PM Miloš Zeman and TOP 09 chairman Karel Schwarzenberg. The first direct election of the Czech president will take place in early 2013.

Temperatures broke records across the Czech Republic on Friday and Saturday, reaching 30° Celsius in places. The Clementinum in Prague, which has been noting temperatures since 1775, registered 27.7° on Saturday, which broke a 212-year-old record of 25,9°. The highest readings were made in the West Bohemian city of Plzeň where the temperature reached 30.1° C, nearly four degrees above the record. Meteorologists say the heat wave could last through Monday in the eastern part of the country. With 138 cm of snow still on the ground in some mountain areas, avalanche areas have been put on alert.

A number of carbon monoxide poisonings were reported in Prague on Friday, as the sharp rise in temperature caused leaks from unsealed gas water heaters and flues. Nine people were reportedly injured, among them three minors. Rescue services say the problem is annual and is caused by low atmospheric pressure combined with high temperatures, but the number of people affected on Friday was extra-ordinary. People are advised to set up sensors to detect the gas, which is odourless.

Supporters of the Occupy movement held a demonstration in Prague’s Lesser Quarter on Saturday; the group plans to stay on Klárov green until May 12. Several tents have been erected and discussions, lectures and other events are to take place. Speakers at the protest camp are pushing for political change and drawing attention to the part of banks and politicians in the global economic crisis. Some of the demonstrators also came out against the controversial ACTA treaty.

The centre-right government of Prime Minister Petr Nečas has won a confidence vote in the lower house, receiving 105 votes in favour and 93 against. The result came shortly after eight pm on Friday after some 11 hours of deliberation by dozens of MPs, including opposition members who slammed the government, arguing it had lost the right to lead. Friday’s vote was called by the prime minister to test support for his government after the splintering of the smallest coalition partner, Public Affairs, over a corruption scandal.

On Friday, it received crucial backing from a newly-emerged faction around Deputy Prime Minister Karolina Peake, who defected from Public Affairs, as well as two independent deputies and three Public Affairs members. Despite the result, observers say it will prove harder for the government to find support for its reforms.

The cabinet has come under fire from the opposition and trade unions for austerity cuts it says are necessary to help bring the budget deficit to below 3 percent of GDP. Around 100,000 people took to the streets of the Czech capital last weekend to protest the austerity measures in one of the biggest anti-government demonstrations since the fall of communism.

Trade union representatives and activists from the Stop vládě (Stop the government) movement agreed on Friday on additional protests against the country’s centre-right government, which would build up to a strike at the end of June. Jaroslav Zavadil, the head of the trades unions’ umbrella organisation ČMKOS, revealed the news but declined to provide additional details concerning different protest events. He did say that members of both camps would prepare a new coordination centre to prepare activities. Earlier this week, union representatives warned the government that the next protests would “hurt”.