LABUDA - Police say they will bring charges against popular Slovak actor Marián Labuda in connection with a Nov. 19 road accident in which two women were killed. The accident took place on the D1 Prague–Brno Highway near Velká Bíteš. Labuda's Volkswagen Passat hit and killed two women who were standing by the side of the road, after being involved in a separate accident. Labuda could face up to two years in prison, loss of his driving license and a fine.

EXPLOSION - A powerful gas explosion in a cellar under the U Arbesa restaurant on the corner of Arbes Square and Preslovza street on the morning of Feb. 18 claimed the lives of two men. One was the restaurant's 27-year-old cook. The other man, 58, had been walking by at the time of the explosion.

PARTNERSHIP - Leaders of the Social Democrats say they want their deputies to vote for a bill on registered partnership for gay couples in order to override President Václav Klaus' Feb. 16 veto of the measure. Most Social Democrats voted in favor of the bill, but some have refused on religious grounds.