Czechs to renew border checks amid new migrant wave

PRAGUE (AP) — The Czech government has decided to renew checks at its border with Slovakia amid a new wave of migration. The new measure becomes effective on Thursday at 27 border crossings between the two European Union countries that belong to Europe’s visa-free Schengen zone. A total of 560 police and customs officers will be deployed to carry out the checks. People will be banned from crossing the border at any other place on the 251-kilometer (155-mile) border. The Czech Interior Ministry says the measure is necessary after authorities detained almost 12,000 migrants on Czech territory this year, most of them from Syria.