News of Radio Prague
Non-affiliated and Freedom Union senators to field own presidential candidate
A group of non-affiliated senators and senators from the junior coalition Freedom Union are planning to field their own candidate for Friday's second attempt to elect a new Czech president. They are expected to nominate Civic Democratic Alliance Senator Jaroslava Moserova. The senior ruling coalition partner, the Social Democrats have put forward their former leader Milos Zeman, while the opposition Civic Democrats' candidate remains their former leader Vaclav Klaus who obtained the most votes in the inconclusive first election last week.
Tvrdik meets Kuwaiti counterpart
The Czech Defence Minister Jaroslav Tvrdik who is on an official visit to Kuwait has met his Kuwaiti counterpart Jaber Hamad Sabah for talks on international terrorism, the threat of weapons of mass destruction and the Czech anti-chemical unit stationed in Kuwait. Mr Tvrdik arrived in Kuwait after visiting Czech troops in Kosovo on Sunday. More than a hundred specialists should join the 250-member Czech anti-chemical unit in Kuwait by the end of January, in response to a United States' request.
Part of Temelin nuclear plant shut down due to leak
A leaking turbine pipe forced technicians to shut down part of the controversial Temelin nuclear power plant on Monday morning. The shutdown of the first reactor came just two days after the second reactor, crippled by a leak-related shutdown earlier this month, was restarted and connected to the national power grid. Since October 2000, the twin-reactor plant, about 60 kilometres north of the Czech-Austrian border, has suffered numerous technical problems. Opponents to Temelin in neighbouring Austria and Germany have pressed the Czech government to shut down the plant because it combines Soviet-era design and western operating technology, but the Czech energy company CEZ insists the plant is safe and hopes to have both units operating fully by spring.
Chinese - most numerous illegal migrants detained in Czech Republic
The largest group of illegal migrants detained on Czech borders last year were migrants from China, followed by Indians and Vietnamese, the Czech Foreign Police said on Monday. While the number of migrants entering the Czech Republic with the aim to get further to European Union countries is on the decrease, more people are choosing the Czech Republic as a target country. According to the Foreign Police director, Jindrich Urban, many of them enter the country legally with a tourist visa but never prolong it and seek illegal employment. These people, almost 20,000 in 2002 are facing expulsion from the country.
Arsonists causes injuries to six people
Unknown attackers caused injuries to six people, including a three-year-old child on Monday night, when they threw a petrol bomb through the window of a flat in the north Moravian city of Ostrava. The inhabitants of the flat belong to the Czech Republic's Romany community, but police have so far ruled out a racist motive of the crime. The attackers are facing up to 15 years in prison.
Passer-by finds dead body believed to be flood victim
A man taking a walk on Sunday near the village of Zelcin in the district of Melnik, Central Bohemia, found a dead body which doctors believe might be a victim of last summer's devastating floods. Seventeen people are known to have died during the disastrous floods last August, which caused around 90 billion crowns worth of damage.
Weather
Tuesday is expected to be cloudy with isolated drizzle or fog. After falling to lows of minus 4 degrees Celsius during the night, temperatures in the daytime are expected to range from plus 1 to plus 5 degrees Celsius.
