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Police have arrested two Slovak men as they attempted to sell a large amount of radioactive material in a Brno hotel. The two, from the Slovak town of Presov, were detained in a sting operation at Brno's Voronez hotel while trying to sell three kilograms of the material, which has yet to be identified. They have been charged and taken into custody. The National Institute for Nuclear Safety says it was the largest seizure of radioactive material anywhere in the world for the last nine months. The head of the Institute, Dana Drabova, said it was almost certain that the material could not have been used for the production of nuclear weapons. She said the material was most probably low-enriched uranium smuggled from the former Soviet bloc. The Institute is analysing the substance and should know more by Thursday.

A record low turnout has accompanied this weekend's second round of the Senate by-election in Brno. Just over 10 percent turned out to vote in the final round, electing Karel Jarusek, a member of the main opposition Civic Democrats, as the city's new senator. In the end Mr Jarusek won by just 21 votes. Saturday's turnout was the lowest ever in any election to the Senate, which suffers from a lack of public trust.

Police have arrested two Slovak men as they attempted to sell a large amount of radioactive material in a Brno hotel. The two, from the Slovak town of Presov, were detained in a sting operation at Brno's Voronez hotel while trying to sell three kilograms of the material, which has not yet been identified. The National Institute for Nuclear Safety says it was the largest seizure of radioactive material anywhere in the world for the last nine months. The head of the Institute, Dana Drabova, said it was almost certain that the material could not have been used for the production of nuclear weapons. She said the material was most probably low-grade uranium smuggled from the former Soviet bloc.

After police found a bugging device in the car of Social Democrat MP Josef Hojdar on Monday, Mr Hojdar called on Prime Minister Spidla and the ministers of the interior, justice and defence to look into the matter. The Czech counter-intelligence service, the BIS, has meanwhile denied playing any role in the matter. Mr Hojdar made the headlines earlier this year when he temporarily left the governing Social Democrats' group in the Chamber of Deputies, threatening the government's majority. Claims the MP made in the summer that he had been bugged and followed were not proven.