Havel takes third crown

Prague's "philosopher king" bounced back from cancer, scandal and political intrigue to claim his crown for the third time - but not without a few alarms.

Vaclav Havel, spiritual leader of the Velvet Revolution of 1989, was due to be acclaimed as president last night by the Czech parliament, but he failed to win an absolute majority in the first round of voting. He was 10 votes short in the lower house and two in the Senate, but the two other candidates did not gain enough support to advance to a second round, leaving him to march on unchallenged.