News

Czech customs officers have arrested a total of seven foreigners operating in the drug trade near the Czech - German border. Operation Nightfall involved customs officers from the west Bohemian border crossings of Rozvadov, Cheb, Sokolov, Teplice, as well as Prague, and the undercover investigation lasted for over a year. The foreigners—six Vietnamese nationals and one Albanian—have been charged with illegal drug manufacturing as well as possession with intent to sell. Nearly two kilograms of the methamphetamine pervitine was uncovered during the police raids, and the accused are suspected of selling about 10 000 grams of pervitine for use on the German drug market. If convicted, they face up to 15 years in jail.

Meanwhile, police in the west Bohemian city of Plzen have arrested a 49 year-old German male for drug trafficking in the downtown core. The man is accused of figuring as a core heroin dealer in Plzen since 2001.

Several days of high temperatures in the Czech Republic have claimed the summer's first victim. A 72 year-old man in the town of Radous, near the central Bohemian city of Beroun, died Thursday of a heart attack likely caused by heat exhaustion. The victim was nailing tiles on the roof of his house when he lost consciousness—ambulance attendants could not revive him and he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Doctors are warning the elderly and people with respiratory problems to stay indoors, and reminding people that they should drink at least 2.5 liters of water per day.

The current warm and sunny weather is expected to continue throughout the end of the week and into the weekend. Daytime highs will reach 32 degrees Celsius.

President Vaclav Klaus has expressed satisfaction with the progress that coalition talks have made. Following a meeting with Civic Democrat leader Mirek Topolanek on Wednesday, Mr Klaus did not object to the three-party coalition being one short of the majority necessary to win a confidence vote. In a Czech Radio interview last year, the President said he wanted the parties of a new government to guarantee that they will have majority seats in parliament. At the time of the interview, though, he reacted to speculation that the main party in the fragile coalition, the Social Democrats, planned to form a minority government with the tacit support of the Communists.

The Prague Stock Exchange has experienced one of the worst days in its history. With the value of shares tumbling, Tuesday saw a major sell-off - a record 11 billion crowns worth of shares. Since the beginning of the year, the total value of Czech shares has decreased by over 20 percent.

Analysts say the current situation has nothing to do with prices of firms and economic indicators but rather an expected rise in interest rates in the United States, leading to the transfer of money across the Atlantic.