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Police in Prague are searching for two men in connection with an attack on the editor of the country's leading investigative newspaper. Tomas Nemecek, editor of the Respekt weekly, is recovering in hospital after an attack that he said included being tear-gassed, hit on the head with a club and kicked in the face by a pair of unknown assailants on Saturday outside his home in Prague. Mr Nemecek said he believed the attack was in retaliation for articles about crime gangs in northern Czech cities that had appeared in his weekly.

Police investigating an attack on Saturday targeting Tomas Nemecek, the editor-in-chief of the independent weekly Respekt, say they are treating the attack as a case of attempted grievous bodily harm. Motives for the assault, however, remain unknown. On Saturday two men in their early twenties attacked Mr Nemecek outside his home, spraying tear gas in his eyes and kicking him repeatedly in the head. Mr Nemecek, who suffered cuts, bruises, and a mild concussion, is expected to spend the week in hospital. One of Mr Nemecek's assistant managers at the weekly Respekt suggested in the meantime that the attack could have been a warning for the paper, involved in investigative reports of various criminal organisations in recent months.

Miroslav Sladek, the controversial leader of the far- right Republican Party, has been successful in local elections in the town of Utechov, a district in the Czech Republic's second-largest city Brno. Mr Sladek, along with his Independents, called "Prosperity and Security", received over 38 percent of votes and three posts in the 7-member town council. Mr Sladek could now even be elected mayor, his first significant return to politics since his far-right Republicans were knocked out of Parliament in general elections in 1998. Mr Sladek's group's finish in elections Saturday was followed by the Independents for Moravia, led by Zdenek Drahos, the former director of public broadcaster Czech TV's studio in Brno.

Czech Foreign Minister Cyril Svoboda, on a tour of the Middle East, has met with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. On Saturday the Foreign Minister accompanied Mr Arafat to view the leader's former headquarters in Ramallah, destroyed by Israeli forces. During their meeting Mr Svoboda said the Czech Republic recognised the Palestinians' right to a sovereign state. However, he stressed the need for the Palestinian leadership to clamp down on terrorist groups. For his part Mr Arafat urged the Czech Republic - a future EU member - to take advantage of good relations with Israel to encourage the state to honour its requirements in the proposed peace plan. Mr Arafat contended these were not being met at the current time. Finally, Mr Arafat was not the only Palestinian leader the Czech Foreign Minister met with on Saturday: Mr Svoboda also had the chance to talk with Palestinian counterpart Nabil Shaath, as well as Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei.