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The collapse of the Austrian government and the upcoming first anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks against the United States dominate today's front pages. "Tax war erupts in the wake of floods" reads a headline in Mlada fronta Dnes. The paper notes that the floods have had a major impact on politics in this part of the world .

All today's papers dedicate a lot of space on their front pages to the package of flood reforms the government approved late on Sunday night. The meeting ended too late for the papers to include all details, but not many differences from the proposed version were expected anyway.

No single topic dominates the Czech papers today - although a particularly brutal photo on the cover of Pravo of men shot dead in the assassination attempt on Afghani president Hamid Karzai is certainly attention grabbing to say the least. But it's with the Czech reaction to a possible U.S.-led strike against Iraqi strongman Saddam Hussein that we begin. The daily Mlada fronta Dnes writes that the Czech Republic would like the U.S. to avoid an attack on Iraq, or at least have any strike sanctioned by the U.N. first.

The floods have finally been pushed off the front pages, replaced by George Bush and his attempts to persuade the world of the need for military action against Iraq. It's a debate which is now being picked up by Czech commentators, with some coming out firmly in favour of war.

The words "higher taxes for the rich" are splashed across most of today's front pages. The very idea of having different rates of income tax and making the rich pay more in a gesture of solidarity with the poor - just twelve years after the fall of communism - seemed unthinkable only a few weeks ago, says Mlada fronta Dnes. But the devastating floods which recently swept the Czech Republic have changed all that.

Two generations of Buzkovas make the front pages today - Petra Buzkova, the new Education Minister, who's pictured welcoming a class of primary school children on their first day of school, and also her daughter Anicka, who spent a nervous first day at Prague's exclusive Lycee Francaise. Ms Buzkova has taken a lot of flak for sending her daughter to a fee-paying school - critics say private education goes against the ethos of the ruling Social Democrats.

The front pages of Mlada fronta Dnes and Lidove noviny carry photos of popular Czech actors and singers who took part in Sunday's fundraising performance at Prague's National Theatre. Inspired by last year's television show organised after the September terror attacks by United States actors and music stars, Czech celebrities answered phone calls from viewers who pledged to donate money.

Starting with Lidove noviny, the paper reports on one of the possible reasons why water leaked into such a large part of Prague's metro. Apparently, at the Mustek interchange station the floor in a corridor collapsed under the continuous pressure of tons of water and floodwater leaked from one metro line into another through the gaping hole, the paper says.

And we begin with a headline from Lidove noviny that blames Prague conservationists for blocking anti- flood protection proposals in recent years, that could have prevented the recent flooding of Prague's famous Kampa island, adjacent to the Vltava river. According to the paper conservationists blocked earlier proposals on the grounds that anti-flood barriers would have ruined one of Prague's most well-known tourist sites, and would have marred the famous city panorama featuring Kampa and Prague Castle.

Flood-related problems continue to fill the pages of all Czech dailies. And the focus is on two key questions. Who's to blame and who will foot the bill? Although it is clear that a natural disaster of such proportions could not have been averted there's a lot of squabbling at present as to whether enough was done to minimize the damage.