News of Radio Prague

Czechs won third world title

The Czech Republic's ice hockey team have won their third consecutive gold medal in the world championships. The Czechs beat Finland 3-2 in the final of the world ice hockey championships in Germany on Sunday. The Czechs, who are also the reigning Olympic champions, have become the first country to claim three successive world champion titles in more than 20 years. With a total of 41 medals from the world championships, the Czechs are now the most successful ice-hockey nation in history.

Czech politicians 'to stop petty politicking' on road to EU

Top representatives of the mainstream Czech political parties have agreed to avoid political disputes which could endanger the country's accession to the European Union in the first wave of enlargement. Leaders of the political parties represented in Parliament said that although they may have different opinions on certain issues, they want to make sure the Czech political spectrum appears united in their effort to join the EU.

Customs officers break up drug-smuggling gang

Czech customs officers say they have arrested a criminal gang responsible for large-scale smuggling of heroin from the Balkans to the Czech Republic. The gang allegedly distributed the drug in the Czech Republic and other European countries - 20 people were arrested, including an Albanian national who is believed to head the gang, one of the largest in central Europe.

Kavan to visit USA

Czech foreign minister Jan Kavan arrived in the United States on Sunday for a seven-day official visit. The main item on his agenda will be talks with US Secretary of State Colin Powell. The visit takes place less than a month after Czech-US relations were strained due to the UN resolution on human rights violations in Cuba. Observers say though that the dispute over a Czech-proposed supplement criticising economic sanctions against Cuba has more or less calmed down and is unlikely to affect the traditionally good relations between the two countries.

Prague to host Czech-French business forum

Prague will be hosting a Czech-French business forum next week. The event is aimed at promotion of French investment in the Czech Republic and is jointly organised by the French Centre for Foreign Business Activities and the Czech government's trade promotion agencies Czechtrade and Czechinvest. The forum will be attended by around 700 participants from both countries, including Czech prime minister Milos Zeman and other both Czech and French government officials.

Czech weather forecast

And finally, the weather forecast. We are expecting a partially cloudy day with scattered showers on Monday, with afternoon highs ranging from 21 to 25 degrees Celsius. Tuesday should be much the same, partially cloudy with occasional showers, with the highest daytime temperatures between up to 25 degrees Celsius.