News of Radio Prague
Klaus criticises Zeman campaign
The Civic Democratic Party's presidential candidate, Vaclav Klaus, has criticised methods used by the Social Democrats to gain support for their own candidate, Milos Zeman, in the upcoming elections. Speaking to journalists on Wednesday, Mr Klaus said that an unfair presidential campaign, which includes trading and promising favours, was launched in parliament when Mr Zeman was nominated. On Friday, Mr Zeman, Mr Klaus and Senator Jaroslava Moserova, who was elected by the two junior coalition parties (the Christian Democrats and the Freedom Union) will stand against each other in a second attempt to elect a successor to current President Vaclav Havel.
Five of twenty-seven soldiers who requested to return from Kuwait have decided to stay
Five of the twenty-seven members of the Czech anti-chemical unit currently deployed in Kuwait who had asked their superiors to return home early have decided to stay. According to the head of their contingent, Dusan Lupuljev, the soldiers were unhappy with the way the Czech media has been reporting on the unit, labelling those members who requested to return home as cowards. For five months, the Czech anti-chemical and nuclear warfare unit has been part of the US-led 'Enduring Freedom' operation and some soldiers have been complaining about the psychological pressure connected with their mission.
Police recover priceless firearms from Battle of Austerlitz
Curators at a museum in the Moravian capital of Brno were relieved on Wednesday after Czech police recovered a cache of stolen antique weapons. All 16 of the 200-year-old weapons, including very rare rifles and pistols, were discovered inside an abandoned house in a village in southern Moravia. According to the museum's Deputy Director, Jaromir Hanak, the firearms were priceless to the museum as it oversees a peace memorial on the site of the Battle of Austerlitz, in which Napoleon's French troops defeated the combined forces of the Russian and Austrian emperors. The weapons were on loan from a Czech army museum and were stolen from an international exhibit six months ago. Police say they have already arrested several members of a gang believed to be linked to the robbery as well as others across the region.
Temelin re-connected to national power grid
Both reactors of the controversial Temelin nuclear power plant in South Bohemia are now generating electricity, after the plant's first reactor was connected to the national power grid on Wednesday morning. Since the beginning of the year, technical failure has seen the plant's reactors shut down on numerous occasions. The latest was on Monday due to a leaking turbine pipe in the plant's first reactor - just two days after the second reactor, crippled by a leak-related shutdown earlier this month, was restarted and connected to the national power grid.
Police identify body found on river banks on Monday
Police say they have identified the body of a man who was discovered along the banks of the River Vltava in South Bohemia on Monday. The body belonged to a 24-year old man from the Cesky Krumlov area. An autopsy on Wednesday did not confirm suspicions that he was a victim of last summer's flood disaster as it showed he had died at the beginning of November. While the police have ruled out a violent death they are still investigating the actual cause.
Weather
Thursday has been forecast with overcast skies and showers in places. Day-time temperatures will reach a maximum of 4 degrees Celsius.
