News of Radio Prague

Skinheads and anarchists commemorate May Day

Far-right skinheads and anarchists have gathered at several locations in Prague to commemorate May Day. Although there were fears of clashes between the two groups, several gatherings being only a few metres apart, no major incidents were reported. The police had to separate three skinheads from a group of anarchists, but otherwise there were no further incidents. Whilst a group of some 300 anarchists walked through Prague, chanting anti-capitalist slogans, a group of about 150 skinheads listened to music and nationalist speeches at Prague's Namesti Miru square. Both groups were closely monitored by the police.

Czech Communist Party celebrates May Day

In another part of Prague, more than 7,000 people attended a May Day rally of the Czech communist party. Representatives from the Cuban and Chinese embassies in Prague are reported to have attended.

Young Conservatives and Communists clash

Although there were no clashes between opposing groups in Prague, the Moravian city of Brno saw tension between Young Conservatives and Communists. During Labour Day celebrations by members of the local Communist party they are alleged to have ripped up anti-Communist banners carried by a group of Young Conservatives that had gathered in the area. The banners carried phrases such as "you have blood on your hands" and "The Right creates, the Left destroys". The Communist's spokesman, Vladimir Sacky, said that it was only natural that such slogans would provoke them. The chairman of the local Young Conservatives, Milan Hamersky in return claimed that his group was only trying to start a two-way discussion.

Liberec and Augsburg agreement

Representatives of the Bohemian town of Liberec and the German town of Augsburg signed an agreement on May Day on future co-operation in the fields of culture, sport, business, and development. The two towns share history as in 1945, most of the 140,000 Sudeten Germans who were forced to leave Liberec under the Benes Decrees, found a new home in Augsburg. Contact between the two towns was made by a Liberec-German organisation which still boasts some 30,000 members.

Gas leak scare

A gas leak in one of the buildings under construction just off Prague's Wenceslas square resulted in the closing of part of the square at around 1p.m. on Tuesday. The local police and the fire brigade checked the origin of the leak but said there was no danger of an explosion.

30 people stranded on cable railway

30 people went through a heart-stopping ordeal on Tuesday after being stranded for almost two hours on a 12 metre high cable railway close to the North Bohemian town of Teplice. Local residents said that this was the first time the 2.5 km long cable railway had to be stopped due to a technical fault. Many of the unlucky passengers were tourists and children. Some were on the cable railway carrying bikes and other heavy baggage.

Sport

And a quick look at the sport. World champions the Czech Republic kept their unbeaten record intact at the world ice hockey championship on Tuesday, securing a place in the second round. The Czechs beat Switzerland 3-1 in their final Group A match but the Swiss will advance as well on the back of their 5-2 win over Belarus, who are already certain of elimination before their final game on Wednesday against Germany.

Weather

And finally, a quick look at the weather forecast. Well, it looks like the Czech Republic finally got lucky as the weather throughout the week should continue to be sunny and warm. But there is a possibility of thunderstorms toward the end of the week. Wednesday should see partially cloudy to clear skies, with daytime highs between 23 and 27 degrees Celsius. Night-time lows are expected to reach eight degrees Celsius.