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The police have reported that an unidentified vandal has damaged part of Prague’s world-famous Orloj or Astronomical Clock, which dates back to the 15th century. The damage took place sometime between April 27 and 29, the police said. Someone broke the arm off one of the statues, known as the Astronomer, decorating the clock tower. The missing piece was not found. The statue has been removed for restoration work which should take several weeks. It is not an original but a replica dating back to the mid-20th century.

Russia has expressed concern over the EU’s Eastern Partnership scheme that should strengthen links between the European Union and several post-Soviet states. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in Luxembourg on Tuesday that the EU should not seek accession of these countries to the bloc. The Eastern Partnership project, to be officially launched at a summit in Prague in May, is designed to foster closer cooperation between the EU and Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Belarus. Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg said Monday that Russian officials were talking ‘nonsense’ when they accused the EU of creating a sphere of influence in the former Soviet republics.

The Czech health authorities have ruled out the presence of the swine flu virus in all suspected cases. All three patients had symptoms typical for regular flu and would not have been admitted to hospital had they not recently returned from Mexico. Some 20 beds at Bulovka hospital have been readied in case of a swine flu outbreak in the Czech Republic, and the health authorities say they have anti-viral drugs for two million people.

Ministers in charge of migration from 50 countries of the EU, South-East Europe and central Asia adopted the “Prague Declaration on Migration” in the Czech capital on Tuesday. At a two day conference held as part of the Czech EU presidency, the officials agreed on the need to fight illegal migration, to support the integration of legal migrants and to promote voluntary returns and re-admissions. The Prague conference on migration-related issues has been one of the largest events of the Czech presidency of the EU.