News

US state department chief negotiator John Rood said on Tuesday that there were no "insurmountable issues" standing in the way of a deal between the United States and the Czech Republic to site a US tracking radar in the country. Mr Rood was speaking at a news conference following a second round of negotiations in Prague. Tuesday's discussions focused on defining the terms of an agreement covering the siting of the base on Czech soil including its construction, maintenance, functioning and security measures. Mr Rood's Czech counterpart, Deputy Foreign Minister Tomas Pojar, said the talks allowed both sides to identify "the limits for further discussions."

The United States wants the Czech Republic to host a radar, with interceptor missiles in neighbouring Poland, to counter the missile attack threat it says is posed by Iran or other "rogue states." The move has created rifts within NATO, outright hostility from Russia and opposition from many Czechs.

In ice hockey, the Anaheim Ducks defeated the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday night ending the team's run for this year's Stanley Cup finals. Detroit - home to star Czech goalie Dominik Hasek - were defeated 4:3 in their final game of the series. The Ducks dominated most of the match, holding on for the win even as Detroit mounted a comeback. 42-year-old Detroit goalie Dominik Hasek, who had an excellent season, will now announce in several weeks time whether he will retire or come back.

Czech Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Vondra said on Tuesday that Russia had so far rejected all US offers to participate in the missile shield project. Moscow has denounced the US defence plans as a threat to Russia's national security, saying that it could upset a strategic balance of forces in Europe. Recently US Defense Secretary Robert Gates visited Moscow with proposals that would enable the Russian's to cooperate on developing the system. Minister Vondra said Prague wanted Russia to get involved, but that it would not allow Moscow to veto the project. The Czech Republic has also heard criticism for some EU states who do not like the idea of EU member states working bilaterally on a defence project with Washington.

The Office for Protection of Private Data is to look into a possible violation of the privacy law in a highly publicized child abuse case. The Czech government on Monday criticized the fact that in reporting on the so-called Mauerova case the media had published the names, photographs and even the address of the three child victims. Tapes of eight-year-old Ondra, naked, bound and force-fed by his mother were repeatedly shown on television as the case evolved. Although the law does not adequately protect child victims in this respect, the head of the Office for Protection of Private Data, Igor Nemec, said the media could be held responsible for violating the privacy law, for which there is a fine of up to ten million crowns. Dzamila Stehlikova, the minister responsible for human rights, said it was shocking that while underage culprits were protected from the press, victims of abuse were not afforded the same rights.