News of Radio Prague

Kavan visits Algeria to discuss trade and terrorism

Czech foreign minister Jan Kavan is visiting Algeria to discuss political and business cooperation between the two countries. Mr Kavan assured Algerian president Abdal Aziz Buteflika that the Czech Republic recognises Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat as a legitimate representative of the Palestinian Authority and a partner for Middle East peace talks. Algeria had strongly condemned recent remarks by Czech Prime Minister Milos Zeman comparing Arafat to Hitler in an interview for Israeli daily Ha'aretz.

Representatives of the Czech Defence Ministry and businessmen held talks with their Algerian counterparts on Czech exports of military equipment to Algeria. Military material in question includes radars, modernised tanks T-72 and armoured vehicles, as well as ammunition. Czech truck maker Tatra is offering Algeria its special heavy-duty trucks and the company Inekon hopes to export trams and locomotives to Algeria which is planning an ambitious transport development project worth three billion USD.

Temelin's second reactor to be loaded with fuel

The Czech Office for Nuclear Safety is expected to give a go-ahead for loading the second reactor of the Temelin nuclear power station with fuel on Monday. According to a spokesman for the power station, Milan Nebesar, after the reactor is loaded with nuclear fuel, it will be sealed and undergo about six weeks of tests before fission is initiated. The first reactor of Temelin was loaded with fuel in July 2000 and since then has been undergoing test operation, which has been marked with a significant number of incidents in the non-nuclear part of the plant. The unique project which combines Russian and Western technology has been heavily criticized by environmental groups both in the Czech Republic and neighbouring atom-free Austria for posing a safety risk.

Sebrle wins Heptathlon European indoor gold

Athletics now - and Czech Roman Sebrle won the heptathlon gold medal at the European indoor athletics championships on Saturday. Another Czech, Tomas Dvorak took the silver, and Erki Nool of Estonia the bronze. Sebrle, the first man to break 9,000 points in the decathlon, won the heptathlon at the European indoor championships with 6,280 points.

Novak fails to make it through semi-finals at Dubai Open

Tennis - and Czech Jiri Novak lost to Frenchman Fabrice Santoro 5-7 6-3 7-6 in a tough semi-final match at the Dubai Open tournament. In the quarter finals, eight-seeded Novak defeated second-seed Yevgeny Kafelnikov of Russia but found Santoro too tough an opponent.

After dropping the first set, the 29-year-old Santoro lost the first eight points of the second before rallying to take the match to a deciding set. He then held off four break points to level at 3-3, and broke for 4-3 when Novak netted a backhand volley. Although Santoro failed to convert two match points at 5-4, he dominated the tiebreak to clinch a victory.

Czech weather report

And finally, a quick look at the weather. We are expecting a cloudy to partially cloudy day with occasional rain showers or drizzle, the highest daytime temperatures should range from 5 to 9 degrees Celsius.