News

The Prague Town Hall has not allowed the neo-Nazi march through Prague's Jewish quarter which was announced to take place on 17th November, because the date and the venue has been already booked by the Jewish Liberal Union. The neo-Nazis would have to choose a different route for their march.

The march was originally scheduled to take place on 10th November. That day marks the anniversary of the Kristallnacht, the Nazi-inspired pogrom on Jews that took place in Germany and Austria in 1938. It has been granted permission by Prague City Hall, whose officials claimed they couldn't ban it as it was officially announced as a protest against the Czech mission in Iraq.

The U.S. defense secretary deputy assistant for coalition affairs, Debra Cagan, has come to Prague to discuss the participation of Czech soldiers in foreign missions with the Defence Ministry representatives. One of the topics on the agenda is the possibility of the United States donating light armoured vehicles to the Czech Republic. Czech soldiers are now deployed in several foreign missions in Afghanistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iraq and Kosovo. They are also to continue operating in a field hospital in Kabul. A Czech special forces unit from Prostejov, south Moravia, that has already operated in Afghanistan twice, might return to the country at the Untied States' request.

Police have started investigating the switching of two newborn girls at the hospital in Trebic nine months ago. The parents of one of the babies recently began to doubt whether the child was theirs and a DNA test confirmed their suspicion. The other parents have not yet been informed. Four girls were allegedly born at the hospital on the 9th December, so there are three families that may possibly be raising somebody else's child.

The government has set up a commission to co-ordinate development projects in the Brdy area of central Bohemia, Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek said on Wednesday. Brdy is where the United States hopes to build a radar base as part of an international anti-missile shield. The government has promised to invest in the region regardless of whether the US base is built. Most local municipalities are opposed to the radar, as, suggest a series of opinion polls, are the majority of other Czechs. Parliament is set to decide on the issue in the early part of next year.