Prague mayor stopped at Tibetan border

Prague's mayor Pavel Bem, who has taken two months' leave to climb Mount Everest, was stopped by Chinese border police upon trying to enter Tibet this week. It is not known why the mayor and his climbing team were not allowed across the Chinese border. The Tyden.cz server, which reported the news, said it had interviewed a Dutch member of another climbing group who witnessed the incident and said it was obvious to him that the Civic Democratic mayor and his companions were "obviously on some kind of blacklist". Mr Bem is now expected to try and reach Everest via Nepal.