FIRE - More than 150 firefighters continue to battle a blaze in České Švýcarsko National Park that had been raging since July 22. Flames reached 20 meters (66 feet) high and destroyed more than 20 hectares (50 acres) of north Bohemian forest. Officials banned access to the park July 24. The fire is the eighth in the park this year. No one has been injured.
SPEEDING - Mladá fronta Dnes reporters tracked Police President Vladislav Husák driving at speeds upward of 190 kilometers per hour (118 mph) on his way to work July 1819. In a nod to the country's tough new driving regulations, Husák agreed to lose his driver's license for three months and gave 10,000 Kč ($442) to a local charity.
COALITION - Prime Minister Jiří Paroubek's Social Democratic Party (ČSSD) rejected a proposal July 24 to join a three-party coalition headed by the Civic Democrats (ODS), and now that coalition will negotiate the extent to which ČSSD will be involved in any new government. The ODS narrowly defeated the ČSSD in June's general election, and the party's leader, Mirek Topolánek, is expected to be the country's next prime minister.
ROMA - The Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France, will handle an appeal by Roma (Gypsies) in Ostrava, north Moravia, who have complained about discrimination in elementary schools. The case stems from a complaint by 18 Roma who were placed in special schools between 1996 and 1999. Their lawyers say the children's parents were not told about the consequences of sending their children to these schools.
NOISE - Prague residents filed a class-action lawsuit against City Hall July 19 over noise pollution. Nearly 3,000 people along the expressway, known as magistrala, say the city has neglected the noise problem. More than 100,000 vehicles per day use the road, which runs east of Wences-las Square. Residents say traffic reaches 70 decibels at night. The maximum permitted level is 50.
HEAT - Temperatures reached all-time highs in Prague July 19 and 20. A 141-year-old record fell July 20 as the temperature hit 35.3 degrees Celsius (95.5 degrees Fahrenheit) at the Klementinum. The old record was 35.2 C. Record temperatures were also reached in Plzeň, west Bohemia, and Ostrava, north Moravia. The current heat wave is expected to end soon as a cold front moves in from the west.
ITALY - More than 100 Poles were freed from a slave labor camp in the southeastern region of Puglia July 18 after a police raid. Concluding a six-month investigation, authorities arrested 25 people involved in a human trafficking ring that brought farm workers from many East European countries to Italy to work for pay as low as $1.25 (28.25 Kč) an hour.
NETHERLANDS - Charles Taylor, the former Liberian president accused of war crimes, made his first appearance before a United Nations tribunal at The Hague July 22. He did not address the court, but his lawyer complained that Taylor was being treated harshly while in custody. Taylor faces 11 counts of war crimes stemming from his involvement in Sierra Leone's civil war from 19912000.
CYPRUS - The small island country called on the European Union July 21 to help as it deals with thousands of evacuees from war-torn Lebanon. A Cypriot government official called on other EU countries to open their airports and ports and to start accepting people fleeing the violence. Since evacuations started July 17, some 12,000 people have passed through Cyprus.
POLAND - The Parliament gave its vote of confidence July 20 to the nascent administration of Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the identical twin brother of President Lech Kaczynski. The new prime minister told lawmakers that he wanted Poland to increase its influence within the EU. Some observers are worried that the family affair now leading the country represents a dangerous consolidation of power.
UK - A judge in Houston, Texas, ruled July 21 that three Britons facing Enron-related fraud charges could not return home until the trial is complete. The men are accused of working with Enron's former chief financial officer, Andrew Fastow, to enrich themselves at the expense of their employer, NatWest Bank, now part of the Royal Bank of Scotland, according to The New York Times.
FRANCE - With the tourist season at its peak, Paris police began clearing city streets July 22 of hundreds of small tents set up by the French charity Doctors of the World to help shelter the homeless. The tents were first erected this winter to help give some respite from the bitter cold, and remained through the rainy spring.
ITALY - Four Algerians are being held near the city of Padua after being arrested July 22 on terrorism charges. They are suspected of being part of an Algerian terrorist organization with strong ties to al-Qaida that is fighting to install an Islamic government in Algeria. Police say the four were in charge of finances and recruitment for the organization.
GERMANY - A 22-year-old man from Ingolstadt was released from custody July 21 after being caught stealing handbags from a local department store. Upon leaving the police station, the man stole a police officer's bicycle and rode off, prompting a chase and his eventual arrest. "He won't be getting out of jail so quickly this time," an officer told the Reuters news agency.
NETHERLANDS - Two Dutch nuns, wearing habits and mounted on bikes, chased a suspected thief through the streets of Amsterdam and apprehended him July 22, the Associated Press reported. The suspect was apparently recognized by one of the nuns as being the man who stole hundreds of dollars in cash from her chapel a few weeks before.
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