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An unknown attacker threw Molotov cocktails at a Russian center in Prague, police say

PRAGUE (AP) — An unknown perpetrator threw several Molotov cocktails at a Russian center in Prague promoting culture and history, Czech police said on Friday.

The incident in the Czech capital took place late Thursday and is now being investigated, they said.

The building of the center did not catch fire. A photo shows a broken window while two windows and a wall are partly covered with smoke.

Known as the Russian House, the building is funded by the Russian state but doesn’t have diplomatic status.

The center said it organizes various cultural, educational and scientific programs and offers courses in the Russian language.

Its director, Igor Girenko, told the Russian state news agency Tass that three of the six Molotov cocktails did not explode.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, called it “a barbaric act,” the agency said.

The Russian embassy in Prague has asked the Czech authorities to boost security of Russian institutions and its employees in the country.

Czech Interior Minister Lubomír Metnar called the attack “unacceptable.”

Beijing bans 4 New Zealand lawmakers from entering China because they visited Taiwan

By WTOP Staff
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Beijing banned four New Zealand lawmakers from traveling to China for a year and demanded they apologize because they visited Taiwan on a parliamentary trip, according to a message from the Chinese embassy conveyed via parliamentary officials and shown to The Associated Press on Thursday. China has hit lawmakers from other countries with sanctions related to contact with Taiwan before, but it's the first time for New Zealand parliamentarians, the government in Wellington said. Beijing has been increasing pressure in recent years on the democratically governed island that it claims as its own territory. Two lawmakers reached by the AP on Thursday rejected the demand for an apology, while the other two could not be immediately reached. New Zealand's government said it would express concern about the travel bans to Beijing. The elected officials visited Taipei in May, as New Zealand parliamentarians have done “for decades,” a spokesperson for Foreign Minister Winston Peters said in a statement.
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