Czech Republic

Czech former president Havel awarded Germany's Point Alpha Prize

Czechs say Russian spies working to boost opposition to US base Prague - Czech author and former president Vaclav Havel was Tuesday awarded Germany's Point Alpha Prize for the Unity of Germany and Europe in Peace and Freedom.

Havel was honoured as a "representative of the great European revolution for liberty in the Soviet realm," said the former German foreign minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher in the German embassy in Prague.

"He gave an example of courage, conviction, and self-sacrifice," said Genscher before 100 guests from the world's politics and society.

Czech military spies say foreign agents interested in US radar

US RadarPrague  - The Czech military intelligence said Monday that foreign spies have shown "specific interest in information" about a missile defence radar base the United States plans to build in the ex-Soviet satellite.

The agency did not give any details in a public version of its 2007 annual report released Monday.

On Thursday, Czech civil counter-intelligence BIS said in its annual report that Russian spies have been stirring up public opinion against the US base. But the report did not give specifics.

The reports were released three weeks before regional and Senate elections.

Czech energy giant CEZ bids for Albanian power distributor

Prague - Czech power company CEZ said Monday it has made a bid for a 76-per-cent stake in the Albanian power distributor OSSH.

Czech police officer convicted of murdering US citizen

Prague - A Czech court Friday sentenced a 26-year-old former Prague city policeman to 10 years in prison for murdering a 44-year-old US citizen, court spokesman Petr Kulawiak said.

Police charge former Czech postal worker in vast mail theft

Prague MapPrague- Czech police Friday charged a 43-year-old former postal worker who allegedly stole some 39,000 letters at a postal hub in south-eastern Czech Republic, police said.

The man faces two years in prison for the theft of international mail at a post office in the south-eastern town of Breclav between 2001 and 2006.

He first stole mail out of interest in foreign stamps and later began opening letters and pilfering the cash inside, said police investigator Josef Brabec.

The suspect confessed when confronted with evidence, including an album with stolen stamps, Brabec said.

Germany lends Czech Republic original of Munich Agreement

PraguePrague- Germany allowed its original of the so-called Munich Agreement, under which European powers gave Hitler parts of then-Czechoslovakia 70 years ago, to be shown in Prague for the first time, officials confirmed Thursday.

The document will be on display at Prague's National Museum between October 28 and March 15 as part of a sweeping exhibit commemorating 90 years of the Czech Republic's history of independence, museum historian Marek Junek said.

"The German original has never crossed the borders of Germany," Junek said.

The talks to bring the document to Prague began a year ago, he said.

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