SMOKING The Senate has rejected the Cabinet's proposed anti-smoking law, returning it to the lower house, where it will require 101 of 200 votes for an override. Senators said that their vote related less to a defense of smoking and more to objections over the cost of fines and the areas in which smoking would become prohibited.

KOSOVO The Czech Republic has officially taken command of joint multinational military operations in Kosovo for the next year, assuming control from Finland of 1,500 soldiers from five other European countries. The Czech Republic, with 500 of its own soldiers in the operation, represents the first of the new NATO countries entrusted with command over the armed forces of other treaty alliance nations.

BUSINESSMAN Justice Ministry officials said they will refuse to extradite Czech businessman Frantisek Príplata, who escaped to Prague from Romania late last month after receiving an eight-year prison sentence on charges of arranging the murder of a labor leader. A series of legal proceedings could lead to Príplata serving the sentence in a Czech prison rather than in Romania, where the businessman said he feared for his life.

CHANNEL Yvetta Hlavácová has become the fastest Czech to swim the English Channel, crossing from southern Britain to northern France in eight hours, 42 minutes. The 30-year-old long-distance swimmer became the 11th Czech to complete the route.

JÁGR International Czech hockey star Jaromír Jágr said he may consider returning to Omsk, Russia, where he played during the labor dispute that shut down North America's National Hockey League (NHL) last season. Jágr, who would be giving up his winger position on the New York Rangers if he returned to Omsk, would lose $3 million a year under the new NHL collective bargaining agreement.