News of Radio Prague

Czechs to help Iraq establish interior ministry

The Czech Republic is to assist Iraq in establishing its interior ministry and fire brigade. The Czech Interior Minister Stanislav Gross, who has just ended a working visit to Baghdad, said the Iraqi authorities had requested this assistance from Prague since the Czech Republic had experience in undergoing a transformation from a totalitarian regime to a democracy. Czech experts will thus not only be involved in the process of training policemen and investigators but will advise Iraq on structural changes at the ministry. Members of the Czech military police are already training future Iraqi policemen in Basra.

Iraqi children recovering from surgery

Eleven Iraqi children are recovering from surgery in Czech hospitals. The Motol hospital spokeswoman Eva Jurinova said there had so far been no complications and the project of helping Iraqi children with serious inborn defects was going according to plan. The children, many of whom have serious heart defects, were diagnosed by doctors at the Czech field hospital in Basra, southern Iraq. They had no hope of getting adequate medical care in their own country. A group of four more children are expected in Prague shortly.

Czech Foreign Ministry dismisses Cuban protest note

The Czech Foreign Ministry has rejected as unjustified a protest note from the Cuban embassy in connection with a recent demonstration against violation of human rights in Cuba. The Cuban authorities claim that the demonstration outside the Cuban embassy in Prague had been a violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. In response to the note a Czech Foreign Ministry spokesman said the protest gathering had been approved by the town hall, it had taken place under police supervision and no incident had been reported.

Temelin case in court

Opponents of the Temelin nuclear power plant have taken their case to court on the grounds of fresh evidence relating to safety. The plant's opponents claim they have evidence to prove that a certain construction firm failed to finish its work on a system of pipelines following a problem with payment. They are striving to get the plant closed down on a court order. The plant's management claims that the job was later finished by a different firm and the pipelines were properly tested.

Speeding and alcohol to blame for "black weekend" on Czech roads

Police say speeding and alcohol were behind the record number of road accidents this weekend. Over 1,000 accidents happened in which 26 people were killed and dozens injures. Police say that speeding on wet roads and alcohol were largely to blame, despite the fact that traffic officers have been out in force for the past week in an attempt to improve road safety in the Czech Republic. Among those killed were three police officers whose car was crushed by a speeding Mercedes. The driver was drunk and going at 150 km per hour on a wet road. He has been charged with manslaughter. Interior Minister Stanislav Gross described the accident as an outrageous end to the week long road safety operation.

Weather:

Tuesday is expected to be cloudy to overcast with scattered showers and day temperatures between 9 and 13 degrees Celsius.