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Georgia's parliamentary president, Nino Burdzhanadze, on Monday called on the Czech Republic to diversify its energy sources by backing a trans-Caucasian gas pipeline that would avoid transiting Russia. Speaking at a news conference at the Prague headquarters of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Mr Burdzhanadze said it was important to think about security but also about energy independence and added his country suggested using alternative sources like Azerbaijan and Georgia. The call followed the weekend singing of a gas agreement between Russia, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan aimed at increasing the latter's gas exports to Russia. Western European countries fear the move could make them more dependent on gas from Russia whereas they have been seeking to reduce their dependence on power shipments via Russian pipelines.

The city of Prague is going to celebrate the 650th anniversary of the laying of the foundation stone of Prague's Charles Bridge built by Emperor Charles IV. The city hall plans to stage re-enactments of historical events, organise concerts and open typical medieval markets. The celebrations will be held from July 6 to July 9. City councillor Milan Richter told reporters the festivities are expected to become one of the main tourist attractions this season.

Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek and his Italian counterpart Romano Prodi on Monday publicly disagreed on how to begin to streamline the European Union. Mr Prodi, on a one day visit to Prague, called for the EU draft treaty rejected by French and Dutch voters in 2005 to serve as the starting point for fresh institutional reform moves. The former EU Commission president said that what occurred in 2004 was a serious point of departure, noting that the treaty had been ratified by 18 EU members. The government of Mirek Topolanek, however, does not support the EU constitution in its current form and says the ratification process is ended as far as the Czech Republic is concerned.

The clash comes just over a month before EU leaders meet in Brussels on June 21-22 seeking agreement on progress for Europe's stalled constitution. Germany made the re-launch of the constitution a priority for its current EU presidency.

Police are still searching for a 13-year old girl who ran away from a children's home in Brno on Friday night where she had been placed earlier that day. The girl, who suffers from social phobia and autism, had been previously staying in the house of a thirty-year old woman who was arrested last week after a neighbour discovered she kept her eight-year old son naked and bound in the dark in a storage room. The mother, a child psychology student, has been remanded in custody and could face a jail term of eight years.