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All of the rubbish bins in Prague’s metro stations were removed for security reasons in the wake of the September 11 attacks on the United States. Now, over eight years later, they are slowly making a comeback, after Prague’s authorities decided to invest in high tech bomb-resistant bins for the city’s underground rail system.

The signing of the New Start Treaty in Prague has been hailed as the beginning of a new era in nuclear disarmament as well as US-Russian relations. But how fragile is the treaty – given that it must still be ratified in both the US Congress and the Russian Duma, and given other potential problems between Russia and the US?

US President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed a landmark nuclear arms control deal in Prague on Thursday. The new START treaty, which took nearly a year to negotiate, will reduce the two countries’ nuclear arsenals by roughly 30 percent more than the previous deal. Both leaders also said they hoped the treaty would pave the way for further weapons cuts.

The signing of the new START treaty in Prague has received massive coverage in the media, and is being analyzed by commentators from all angles. But how do the citizens of Prague – the common people – feel about the Russian-US deal that may mark the beginning of a new era? Sarah Borufka went out on the streets to see what people had to say on the subject.

Prague will be in the world spotlight for the historic signature of a new nuclear arms control agreement between US President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. That centrepiece event takes places at noon on Thursday in Prague Castle’s magnificent Spanish Hall. But the Czech capital is playing host to the leaders over three days in total.

US President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev are set to sign a landmark nuclear arms control treaty in the Czech capital on Thursday. But some Czechs are concerned that Barack Obama’s effort to engage Russia could undermine the security of their own country. Radio Prague spoke to Daniel Anýž, a foreign policy commentator for a leading Czech daily, Hospodářské noviny, and asked him whether he thought these concerns were justified.

Several Czech brewers, including the makers of Pilsner Urquell, are calling for tightening of the rules for using an industry quality control label named České Pivo (Czech Beer). The move comes in reaction to a recent consumer test of several Czech beers. It revealed that some brewers are using a chemically modified hops extract – a substance that purists say has no place in Czech beers, which are known around the world for their high quality.

At the weekend, two Molotov cocktails (containing a liquid that is yet to be identified by the police) were thrown into the doorway of a block of flats inhabited by Romany families in the north Moravian town of Opava. The incident, which is being investigated as a threat to public safety, comes just a few weeks after a similar attack on a Romany family in Ostrava. Sarah Borufka reports.

Prague’s Libuš district is home to a sprawling Vietnamese market called Sapa and is one of the main centres of the Vietnamese community in the Czech Republic. The local town hall has recently complained of growing tension between the Czech and Vietnamese communities in the area, where they say the latter is forming a ghetto. Although the police have noted no significant increase in crime, the district mayor has warned of problems on the horizon.

Almost exactly a year after US President Barrack Obama declared his commitment to seeking a world free of nuclear weapons in a keynote speech in Prague – he is due to return to the Czech capital to sign a landmark nuclear disarmament treaty with his Russian counterpart, Dimitry Medvedev. Mr. Obama will also meet with a number of European leaders in the course of his two day visit. The Czech capital is gearing up for a massive security effort for what is shaping up to be a historic event.