MUSLIMS - Interior Minister František Bublan plans to meet with six representatives of Czech Muslim organizations some time in the next week in an effort to head off tensions surrounding the publication of cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad in numerous European newspapers. Some Czech newspapers have reprinted the cartoons, saying it was a move to show solidarity with other publications emphasizing the freedom of the press.

MEDICINE - Medicine distributors are threatening to halt shipments to major hospitals to protest continuing payment problems with VZP, the country's largest health insurance company. The Association of Drug Distributors (AVEL) protested outside the offices of the Health Ministry Feb. 7. The move comes in response to a variety of cost-cutting measures Health Minister David Rath has backed in an effort to reduce a huge debt in the country's healthcare system.

KIDNAP - František Mrázek, the wealthy businessman gunned down in Prague Jan. 25, told Czech TV before his death that he feared being kidnapped on the orders of fugitive billionaire Radovan Krejčíř, who is hiding in the Seychelles Islands off the coast of East Africa. Mrázek said the kidnapping would have allowed Tomáš Pitr, his business partner, and Krejčíř to take over food company Setuza, which Mrázek ran.

CAGES - Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling says she has accepted an invitation from Czech authorities to come to Prague and tour mental hospitals here, though no date has been set for the visit. Rowling has been critical of the Czech Republic in the past for its use of caged beds in such institutions, writing an angry letter to the government in July 2004. That letter caused the government to ban such beds, even though doctors recently spoke out against Rowling's criticism.