KLAUS - Prime Minister Jiří Paroubek dismissed the opinion of President Václav Klaus July 18 that multiculturalism represents the fundamental cause of terrorism. Klaus had said in an interview with Mladá fronta Dnes that Western civilization committed a tragic mistake by embracing multiculturalism, and compared it to the role that Karl Marx's teachings played in the rise of communism.

ROYALTY - British Prince Edward visited Prague and Marianské Lazně to kick off a benefit golf tournament in the spa town, handing the Duke of Edinburgh Cup to young Czech golfers. He then presented the Duke of Edinburgh's Award to participants in the Czech chapter of a worldwide voluntary youth program in Prague.

DIPLOMATS - Two Libyan diplomats, whose sons allegedly took part in the rape of a 10-year-old boy, have been recalled from their jobs in Prague at the request of the Czech government, the Foreign Affairs Ministry said July 18. Právo reported that three 13-year-old Libyans assaulted the boy on a Prague 6 playground.

CRIME - Car break-ins and pickpocketing ran virtually unchecked in Prague last year, with the capital city claiming nearly half the number of cases for the entire country but with one of the lowest capture rates, according to Mladá fronta Dnes. The paper reported that thieves broke into 59,000 cars and pickpockets robbed 15,000 people in the country in 2004. Prague police, however, solved only 3 percent of pickpocketing cases, compared to 10 to 13 percent in other regions of the country.

ZEMAN - Ex-prime minister and former Social Democrat (ČSSD) chief Miloš Zeman said he will support current Prime Minister Jiří Paroubek, also of the ČSSD, in the mid-2006 general elections. But Zeman, who recently spent the weekend at Paroubek's country cottage, also said he will not support current ČSSD chair Stanislav Gross if he runs, citing the allegations of financial misdealings that cost Gross his prime minister post.

AIRPORT - Prague may soon get a new airport for low-cost airlines to serve as backup for Ruzyně Airport, according to plans from Czech aircraft manufacturer Aero Vodochody. The project, expected to be worth hundreds of millions of crowns, has already received the support of the Transportation Ministry and would be built sometime in 2006 or 2007.

MISSION OVER - The Czech aid agency People in Need closed its mission to Chechnya after Russian authorities refused to renew its registration. The agency faced heightened scrutiny and accusations of supporting terrorism after police found a Chechen rebel in December hiding in the basement of a building it used in Grozny.