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The Supervision Department of the Interior Ministry is investigating the circumstances of a police shooting that resulted in the death of a 30-year-old taxi driver last Sunday. The department will look into whether or not the officer in the shooting committed a criminal offence, namely grievous bodily harm resulting in death. In the incident, the civilian reportedly attacked two metropolitan officers, disarming them and taking one of their guns. The man is then said to have threatened the officers and tried repeatedly but unsuccessfully to pull the trigger (which was locked on "safety") at state police arriving at the scene. When he refused to drop the weapon he was shot and killed.

The original officers first moved in against the civilian after he reportedly assaulted a woman on the street.

Czech star midfielder Pavel Nedved, who plays for Italian football club Juventus, has not yet said whether he is planning on giving up professional football, after he helped his side's being promoted back to the top flight. Nedved has said he will make a public announcement about his future on June 30th. He has made clear that even if he retires from the pitch he and his family will continue living in Italy, where Nedved has played since 1996. He enjoyed arguably his best season with Juventus in 2003 when he won the Best European Player of the Year award.

The EU Commissioner for Justice, Freedom and Security, Franco Frattini, has said the Czech Republic is well prepared for joining the Schengen border-free zone. Speaking to journalists after meeting Czech Interior Minister Ivan Langer and Justice Minister Jiri Pospisil in Prague on Thursday, Mr Frattini said preparations went according to plan. Checks at border crossings will be abolished at the end of this year, but they will last until March 2008 at international airports around the Czech Republic.

EU member states have failed to agree to normalise ties with Cuba, opting instead to extend a suspension of sanctions on the country, European diplomats said on Thursday. Some of the 27 member states, led by Spain which normalised its relations with Cuba in April, are in favour of definitively dropping the sanctions which were introduced in 2003 but suspended two years later. But objections continue to be voiced, notably from Britain, the Czech Republic and Sweden which believe normalisation should not take place without democratic reforms in Cuba, the diplomats said. A proposal put forward by the German EU presidency on Wednesday to normalise ties was rejected at a meeting of EU diplomats ahead of a foreign ministers' meeting in Luxembourg on Monday.