News of Radio Prague
Police to launch "Operation Krystof II"
Police say they will launch a second nationwide crackdown on bad drivers on Tuesday, following last month's much-publicised "Operation Krystof". A spokesman said police across the country would be monitoring driving behaviour and also stopping cars for random technical checks. He would not say how long the operation would last. It follows last month's Operation Krystof, where over the space of five days police stopped more than 350,000 cars and recorded more than 100,000 driving offences. The operation was criticised by the opposition as a publicity stunt.
V4 presidents: co-operation makes sense, should continue within EU
The presidents of the Visegrad Four group - the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary and Slovakia - have said their mutual co-operation makes sense and should continue even after all four join the European Union next year. The four presidents made the comments after Monday's Visegrad meeting in Budapest. The Czech President Vaclav Klaus, a fierce critic of the group in the past, explained that while he had always believed the four countries were very close, he had been concerned that past Visegrad Four meetings were not always productive.
Police to consider charges against German NGO over child prostitution report
Police are to investigate whether a German non-governmental organisation could have committed a criminal offence by claming that child prostitution was rampant in the Czech Republic. An Interior Ministry official said police would study the full report, produced by the Karo organisation for the German branch of UNICEF, to decide whether the organisation should face charges. In the report, Karo claimed paedophiles were flocking to Czech towns on the border with Germany to take advantage of rampant child prostitution. The claims have been dismissed by the Czech authorities as unrealistic and unsubstantiated.
Veterinary official overseeing BSE cull receives death threat
A veterinary official who will oversee the killing of hundreds of cows to prevent possible infection with BSE says he has received an anonymous death threat. Josef Kral, chief veterinarian for the Liberec region, told the Deniky Bohemia newspaper that he had received a letter threatening biblical retribution for the planned slaughter of almost 900 cows from a local herd. Last month a 3-month-old member of the herd tested positive for BSE or mad cow disease, the seventh confirmed case in the Czech Republic. Around 35 cows will be destroyed each day over the next two to three months.
Computer chooses first skilled foreigners for "fast-track residence" project
A computer has chosen the first 75 foreigners who will be given fast-track permanent residence in the Czech Republic in return for working in fields with a shortage of skilled labour. The scheme, designed to replace Czechs who are leaving for better-paid jobs abroad, is the first of its kind in the country. The trial project will allow skilled computer, management and health professionals from Bulgaria, Croatia and Kazakhstan to apply for permanent residence in the Czech Republic after two and a half years, as opposed to the normal waiting period of 10 years. If the scheme is successful, it will be widened to include skilled workers from other countries.
Weather
Tuesday will be mostly cloudy with rain in places. Daytime temperatures will range from 7 to 11 degrees Celsius. Temperatures at night will fall to lows of -2 degrees.
