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The Karel Gott for President saga drags on today - in a front-page interview with MLADA FRONTA DNES the popular singer says he would consider standing for the post, after telling a rival newspaper last week that it was out of the question. Indeed it seems Mr Gott - known as "the Golden Nightingale" to some and "Zombie" to others - was so flattered by the idea he's now taking it seriously. "When I see that people are willing to consider me standing for president, there's no way I can arrogantly refuse" he tells the paper.

The presidential elections have not moved out of the papers' focus for a while and today is no exception. Inevitably, all dailies lead with yesterday's agreement of all the parliamentary parties that a third attempt to elect a new Czech president will take place on Friday, February 28.

All of today's front pages carry photos of US Secretary of State Colin Powell addressing members of the UN Security Council in an effort to convince them of the need for military action against Iraq. "Powell presents his case against Iraq", "The US files charges against Iraq" and "Saddam is done for" read some of the front page headlines.

All of the Czech newspapers report on Tuesday's setbacks in the attempt to find a joint governing coalition candidate for president, and both LIDOVE NOVINY and HOSPODARSKE NOVINY say a direct public vote is becoming ever more possible.

The aftermath of the explosion of the space shuttle Columbia continues to dominate the front pages of the Czech newspapers today. Another prominent story is the failure of the Prague tram driver's strike on Monday, when some tram services were disrupted. But one thing that is still going is the search for a Czech president, and it remains a big story in the newspapers. This time the focus is on the academics Helena Illnerova, Pavel Klener and Ivan Wilhelm - but will the country find a president in one of these figures?

This Monday there are basically two items that dominate the Czech dailies: one is the tragedy of the Columbia shuttle, which broke up in flames upon re-entry on Saturday killing all of the astronauts on board. The second dominant event in the press this Monday is the end of Vaclav Havel's presidency. Mr Havel's final term ended on Sunday after thirteen years in office, so it is hardly surprising all of the papers devote several pages to his legacy.

Apart from the ongoing search for an eligible new Czech head of state and various profiles of the outgoing President Vaclav Havel, the papers are dominated by the statement supporting the US stance on Iraq signed by eight European leaders, including Vaclav Havel, and the outgoing president's gala evening at Prague's National Theatre on Thursday.

It's a tale of two presidents in today's Czech dailies - splashed across the covers are photos of either US President George W. Bush, giving his State of the Union address, or Czech president Vaclav Havel, visiting Slovakia as a statesman for the last time. In contrast with Mr. Bush's serious face, Mr Havel was all smiles when meeting with both friends and state officials in Bratislava.

A variety of stories are covered on the front pages of Wednesday's Czech newspapers, but one theme still dominates: the retirement of President Vaclav Havel and the as yet fruitless attempts to find his successor. PRAVO and LIDOVE NOVINY carry the same photo of Mr Havel being toasted in Prague by the presidents of Poland and Austria and their wives. MLADA FRONTA DNES meanwhile has a photograph of President Havel's wife Dagmar been given what they term a "Polish kiss" by Aleksandr Kwasniewski.

All of the main papers today feature Monday's report for the United Nations Security Council by chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix, which says that Iraq falls short on co-operation, which affects the ability of weapons inspectors to fully ascertain the state of the Iraqi arms program. The papers give a detailed explanation of Mr Blix's report pointing out that he had criticised Iraq for not giving enough evidence of its past weapons of mass destruction programmes. At the same time, the paper writes, inspectors have not provided evidence supporting