News

Likely no Czechs among London bomb victims: Paroubek

The Czech prime minister, Jiri Paroubek, said it appeared no Czech citizens were among the victims of Thursday's bombings in London. Mr Paroubek was speaking after a meeting of the National Security Council on Friday evening. However, two Czechs thought to have been in London at the time of the attacks have not yet contacted their families.

The heightened security measures introduced in the Czech Republic following Thursday's blasts remain in place, with extra police on duty at strategic locations.

Czech Muslims strongly condemn London attacks

Czech Muslims have strongly condemned the London bombings, for which an Islamist terrorist group has claimed responsibility. In a statement, the Brno-based Islamic Foundation expressed solidarity with the victims and their families and condemned those who, they said, abused the word of God in an attempt to justify their crimes.

Plane problems leads to spat between ministries

A technical problem with a government plane that left the foreign minister, Cyril Svoboda, grounded in Mauritania for 27 hours has led to a row between the Foreign and Defence Ministries, Mlada fronta Dnes reported on Saturday. Mr Svoboda said his ministry resented the failure of the Defence Ministry to deal adequately with the situation. Meanwhile, Defence Minister Karel Kuhnl said he would push for the modernisation of the government's fleet of planes to be brought forward.

Wife of fugitive businessman charged with money laundering

The police have charged the wife of fugitive businessman Radovan Krejcir with money laundering and seized the couple's luxury home near Prague. Mr Krejcir recently absconded during a police search of the villa, and is believed to have fled the Czech Republic. Katerina Krejcirova faces up to eight years in prison if found guilty of money laundering.

Karlovy Vary restaurants, stands ripping off customers, says business inspectorate

Almost half the restaurants, pubs and stands in the centre of Karlovy Vary have been overcharging customers or otherwise breaking regulations during the town's film festival, a five-day survey by the Czech Business Inspectorate has found. Twenty wrong-doers were fined during the checks, the website noviny.cz reports.

Colours of Ostrava music festival underway

One of the Czech Republic's best known rock music festivals, the Colours of Ostrava, got underway on Friday. Highlights on the first day included performances by Cechomor and Britain's Transglobal Underground. Colours of Ostrava closes on Sunday with a set by US funk legend George Clinton.

Weather

Forecasters are warning of more heavy rains over the next couple of days, and say some rivers could rise dangerously high. We should then see a period of showers and sunny spells, with temperatures gradually reaching as high as the mid-20s Celsius.