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Water levels in the north-eastern part of the Czech Republic are subsiding, but many towns remain on flood alert following days of heavy rain. Dozens of people had to be evacuated from their homes on Wednesday after unexpectedly heavy rainfall led to flooding in some areas. The high alert was triggered chiefly by conditions in Ostrava, where the Ostravice river burst its banks during the day and flooded surrounding streets. The flooding also affected the towns of Bohumin, Havirov and Cesky Tesin where many people reported water in their cellars. A huge clean up operation is now underway.

The country's new Gripen fighter jets were sent out on their first mission on Thursday to help a Turkish plane which had lost radio connection with air control. The passenger plane flying from Istanbul to Hamburg was escorted by the Czech pilots to the German border, where it was taken over by German fighter jets. The Czech Republic has leased 12 Gripen fighter jets from Sweden, to replace the outdated Soviet-made Mig 21s.

The government has agreed to acknowledge the merits of former Czechoslovak citizens of German nationality who actively stood against Nazism and remained loyal to the country during the Second World War. The government also expressed regrets over the wrongs they suffered in post war Czechoslovakia and apologised for the injustice done to them by the Communist regime. The proposal of a conciliatory gesture was first put forward by Prime Minister Jiri Paroubek last month.

After World War II, some 200,000 Germans stayed in the then Czechoslovakia, while another 2.5 million ethnic Germans were deported from the country on the basis of the post-war Benes decrees and their property was confiscated. The Germans allowed to stay in Czechoslovakia lost their property, too, and were stripped of Czechoslovak citizenship which was returned to them only after 1953.

Over 14,000 Czechs and 24,000 Slovaks have registered for work in the United Kingdom since May 1, 2004 when the Czech Republic and Slovakia joined the European Union along with eight other countries. According to the latest UK statistics, over 230,000 workers from the new member states have registered in the UK since last May; more than 50 percent of them Poles.