RESIGNED - Miroslav Kalousek resigned as Christian Democratic Party (KDU-ČSL) head Aug. 25, after regional party leaders expressed anger over his willingness to enter into a communist-supported coalition with the Social Democratic Party (ČSSD). Before the June election, Kalousek pledged he would never agree to that prospect.
ELECTION - Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek told reporters Aug. 27 that he'd like to see a new election as early as spring. Topolánek also said he hopes for a Civic Democratic Party (ODS) minority government supported by appointed experts to run the country. Former Prime Minister Jiří Paroubek said the ČSSD refuses to answer ODS phone calls until Parliament holds a vote of confidence on Topolánek's rule.
PROTEST - Police detained 26 people at an Aug. 27 neo-Nazi rally at the Israeli Embassy and confiscated gas guns, knives and batons. Demonstrators said their goal was to protest how the crisis in the Middle East is being handled. One protester arrested was a police officer, who has since been fired.
ASYLUM - Eighty-nine Egyptians seeking asylum escaped from two detention centers, one in Prague and one in north Moravia, Aug. 26 and 27, and 19 have since been caught, police said. The whereabouts of the others were unknown at press time. Právo reports that more than 400 Egyptians have sought asylum in the country since June.
SMOKE - Lawmakers are preparing to approve the biggest increase in sales tax on cigarettes in the past few years. Starting next year, the price of a carton of cigarettes is to increase approximately 20 Kč (91 U.S. cents). Tobacco companies anticipate that cigarette consumption will fall as a result.
EXPLOSIVES - Mushroom pickers in the woods near Skuteč, east Bohemia, stumbled upon 43 rusting mortar shells Aug. 23 that authorities have identified as World War II ammunition. Another picker found an unexploded artillery shell outside of Havlíčkův Brod. All explosives were safely detonated by bomb squads, say regional police.
LOGO - The creators of 2004's Český sen (Czech Dream), a documentary about a hypermarket that didn't exist, won their court battle against the ODS. The filmmakers sued the ODS for using the Český sen logo in the party's election campaign. The ODS must now pay them 40,000 Kč.
IRELAND - Irish police arrested two members of the Czech Berdych gang Aug. 25. Tomáš Půta and Maroš Šulej are being prosecuted on several counts of armed robbery, while Půta also faces a murder charge. Both are now in custody in Ireland, while the Czech government is calling for their extradition. The Berdych gang, which included high-ranking police officers, became infamous in recent years for attacking and murdering wealthy businessmen.
POLAND - Lech Wal´sa, Poland's president from 1990 to 1995, has quit the Solidarity trade union he helped start, which played an important role in toppling the communist regime in Eastern Europe in the late 1980s. He told journalists Aug. 23 that he was disappointed that Solidarity's members supported the right-wing Law and Justice Party in the country's election last fall.
UKRAINE - Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Pavlo Lazarenko is accused of stealing $114 million (2.5 billion Kč) while in office from 1996 to 1997. A federal judge in San Francisco sentenced Lazarenko to nine years in prison Aug. 25 for money laundering, fraud and transporting stolen goods. U.S. authorities arrested Lazarenko seven years ago when he fled to the United States seeking asylum.
AUSTRIA - A young woman who had been missing since 1998 has been found. Eighteen-year-old Natascha Kampusch told police she was held captive in a small basement room in a quiet residential community near Vienna for the past eight years. Kampusch's alleged captor committed suicide Aug. 23, just hours after Kampusch escaped and contacted authorities.
GERMANY - German police arrested a third suspect Aug. 26 in connection with a plot to bomb two trains in Dortmund and Koblenz that police foiled July 31. The man, whose identity hasn't been released, is allegedly an associate of Youssef Muhammad el-Hajdib, arrested in Germany Aug. 19 in connection with the bomb plot. Lebanese authorities have detained another man suspected of being involved.
ITALY - Up to 3,000 Italian troops will be deployed in Lebanon this week, as part of a peacekeeping force of 15,000 soldiers that European Union countries agreed to contribute to during a meeting in Brussels Aug. 25. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan praised Italy for agreeing to send so many troops. In total, EU countries are to supply 6,900 soldiers, though the Czech Republic has yet to commit any.
NETHERLANDS - Dutch authorities said they are releasing 12 passengers who were arrested Aug. 23 after they aroused suspicion on a Northwest Airlines flight to India, prompting pilots to make an emergency landing. According to Dutch police, the men, all of whom were of Indian descent, were unruly but not planning any terrorist activities.
RUSSIA - Russian authorities returned 117,519 mobile phones worth $15 million to Motorola Aug. 24, five months after the Interior Ministry seized more than 167,000 phones from the company, claiming they were counterfeit and a health hazard. All phones had been approved for sale in Russia. Motorola, which has slowed its investment in Russia in recent months, says it is still waiting for a clearer explanation.
SWITZERLAND - Swiss regional transport officials took a train out of service after a 1-meter- (3.3-foot) long pet snake escaped from its owner Aug. 19 in one of the train's compartments. So far no one has been able to locate the snake, and the train remains out of service.
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