News

European decathlon champion Roman Sebrle of the Czech Republic retained his title at the European championships in Gothenburg, Sweden, thanks to impressive performances in the long jump, high jump and 110m hurdles. The reigning Olympic champion and double world silver medallist finished on a season's best of 8,526 points after dominating the field in the 10 disciplines of the gruelling two-day event. He finished a massive 170pts ahead of Hungary's Attila Zsivoczky (8,356pts) in silver. Russian Aleksey Drozdov (8,350pts) took bronze.

Prague's Ruzyne international airport has stepped up security following the news on Thursday of thwarted terrorist attacks that were to have targeted US bound planes from Britain. The additional security measures concern primarily flights bound for Great Britain and the US, and are in effect. Passport and security clearance have been tightened and passengers are no longer allowed to take liquids or gels on board. A spokeswoman for the airport recommended that anyone travelling to either Great Britain or the US arrive well in advance of boarding - at least two hours before take off.

A number of flights from Prague to London were cancelled on Thursday as London's Heathrow airport closed to traffic. Also on Thursday: Prime Minister Jiri Paroubek met with the heads of Czech Intelligence and requested the activation of a special team which will monitor the situation and coordinate security measures. The Czech Intelligence Service has issued a statement saying there is no direct threat to the Czech Republic at present.

The police anti-corruption unit has detained six suspects in a nine-year-old case of suspected fraud involving 1.2 billion crowns - around 55 million US dollars. The CTK news agency has reported it was told by an unnamed source that police have reason to believe the fraud - the illegal siphoning-off of assets from CS Fondy - was masterminded by Pavel Tykac and Jan Dienstl, the former heads of the now defunct Motoinvest financial company. Along with the two, four others have been detained for questioning. A spokeswoman for the state attorney's office has said that police may request some of the suspects be remanded in custody.

The Czech competition office has issued a record fine of 370 million crowns, the equivalent of around 17 million US dollars, on gas importer and distributor RWE Transgas for abusing its dominant position on the market. The fine is the biggest imposed on a single company by the Czech competition watchdog. According to the office, RWE Transgas discriminated in its gas supply contracts between regional gas distributors which belonged to the company and those which did not. The competition office found that the company, also banned its distribution companies from selling natural gas outside their territory, cutting competition on the market and charged excessive prices for storage of natural gas during 2005. Previously, the highest fine issued to a single company was given to the fixed-line giant Cesky Telecom, which had to pay a fine of 205 million crowns.