Prague  - Czech lawmakers Tuesday overrode a presidential veto of a law that puts the country's chemical industry under tougher European Union rules.

The legislation passed 133-12, with 101 votes needed in the 200- seat lower house of parliament to strike the veto down.

The bill, originally passed by parliament in July, implements an EU directive that requires manufacturers and importers to register chemicals with the new Helsinki-based European Chemicals Agency.

The new EU agency's tasks are to collect information and run a public database on chemicals as well as to evaluate, authorize and restrict use of substances so they pose no hazard to humans and the environment.

Prague  - Japan and the Czech Republic Tuesday signed a memorandum that paves the way for Japan to buy surplus greenhouse gas emission credits, the Czech Environment Ministry said.

Japan has so far failed to fulfil its obligation under the so- called Kyoto Protocol to cut by 2012 emissions of gases believed to cause global warming by 6 per cent from the
1990 levels.

Prague- The Czech government Monday approved a 2009 draft budget with a spending gap of 1.6 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP), well below the
3-per-cent limit required for adopting euro, Finance Minister Miroslav Kalousek said.

The Czech Republic is in no rush to switch to Europe's common currency as Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek wants to fix country's public finances first.

Topolanek's centre-right government abandoned a 2010 euro adoption target, while Slovakia will enter the 15-member eurozone in January and Poland hopes to join in
2011.

Prague - Czech generics maker Zentiva said Monday it has agreed to a nearly 2-billion-dollar buyout bid by Sanofi-Aventis after the French pharmaceutical group raised its offer by 9.5 per cent.

Sanofi-Aventis, Zentiva's largest shareholder with a 24.9-per-cent stake, sweetened its initial bid by 100 koruny to 1,150 koruny per share (70 dollars), Zentiva said.

Zentiva said the offer represents a 26-per-cent premium over its share price on April 30, before the original bid, and recommended the buyout to other shareholders.

Prague - The Czech government Sunday condemned "the terrorist attack" on a five-star hotel in Islamabad which killed more than 50 people, including the Czech ambassador.

"The Czech Republic sharply condemns any type of terrorist activities," Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek said in a statement.

Czech Ambassador to Pakistan, Ivo Zdarek, was identified as one of the victims of Saturday's suicide bombing that left at least 53 dead and many more injured, Pakistani and Czech officials confirmed.

The 47-year-old diplomat had stayed in the Marriott temporarily because his residence was undergoing refurbishment and a security upgrade, said Zuzana Opletalova, a spokeswoman for the Czech Foreign Ministry.

Islamabad, Sept 21 : Czechoslovakian ambassador in Islamabad Ivo Zdarek was among the 53 people killed in yesterday’s fidayeen attack on a hotel, Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani confirmed today.

Gilani said that the envoy’s dead body had been identified.

Meanwhile, even as the death toll reached 53, rescue operation at the Marriott Hotel was going on since early morning. Rescue workers and the fire brigade officials had controlled the fire, but temperature inside the building was still very high due to which entering in the hotel was very difficult.