News of Radio Prague

Schroeder: Temelin dispute no obstacle to EU entry

The German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder has said the Czech Republic's policy to keep open its controversial Temelin nuclear power plant will not hamper the country's entry into the European Union. Speaking after a meeting on Tuesday with the Czech Prime Minister Milos Zeman, Mr Schroeder said there were differences of opinion between Germany and the Czech Republic on nuclear policy, but said they would not be an obstacle to EU membership. Mr Schroeder was speaking to reporters following a visit to the Skoda Auto car plant, which is now owned by Germany's Volkswagen group. Chancellor Schroeder described Volkswagen's investment in Skoda as a model of both German-Czech economic co-operation and how eastern European firms could modernise. Mr Schroeder also praised the Czech Republic for working hard to prepare its economy for EU membership.

CTK: Britain mulls re-imposition of airport immigration controls

Britain is reported to be considering the re-imposition of controversial immigration controls at Prague's Ruzyne Airport. The Czech News Agency reported on Tuesday that London was alarmed at a fresh rise in the number of asylum requests from Czech citizens, and the spokesman for the British Embassy in Prague has confirmed that Britain was prepared to reintroduce the measures if necessary. British immigration officials were stationed at Prague Airport last month following a sharp increase in the number of Czechs - almost all of them members of the country's Roma minority - arriving in Britain to seek asylum. Czech Roma say they are subject to widespread discrimination at home, but Britain says it cannot grant asylum to any Czech citizen because they are not persecuted by the Czech state. Opponents said the measures were discriminatory towards all Roma passengers.

Police, soldiers again comb fields in search for missing children

More than 500 policemen and soldiers will continue to comb fields in the Uherske Hradiste area of South Moravia on Wednesday, as the search continues for two local children missing since the beginning of August. No clues were found during Tuesday's search as to the whereabouts of the missing pair. Ten-year-old Jan Vosmansky and his 12-year-old sister Dagmar were reported missing on August 3rd, four days after leaving Brno with their Belgian brother-in-law for a tour of local castles. The search was intensified following the discovery of the man's body near his abandoned car. Police say the man, named as Stephan Knaepen, had committed suicide. There was no trace of the two children.

Ten far-right youths charged in connection with neo-Nazi

Ten people have been charged in connection with last Saturday's concert by neo-Nazi groups in a village in West Bohemia. The ten youths were charged with extremist offences, and four have been taken into custody. Police raided the club in the village of Zizelice, and ordered the 200 mostly skinhead youths to disperse. Czech police rarely break up concerts by neo-Nazi groups, and have often been accused of being soft on far-right extremists.

Ceremony held outside Czech Radio building to commemorate events of 1968

A ceremony was held outside the Czech Radio building on Tuesday morning to remember the two dozen unarmed civilians who died defending the building during the Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia 33 years ago. The mayor of Prague, Jan Kasl, said the invasion had cost death and injury but also severe damage to the spirit of the nation during the following two decades of hard-line Communist rule. Czechoslovak Radio was the first to announce the arrival of Soviet troops in the early hours of August 21st, 1968, and several thousand people gathered outside the building to protect the station. The building was eventually overrun by Soviet soldiers.

Weather forecast

And finally a quick look at the weather. Thursday will see a band of high pressure continuing to spread across the country from the north west, bringing with it more cloudy weather with showers in places. Daytime temperatures will reach a maximum of 27 degrees Celsius, falling to lows of 13 degrees at night.