Press Review | All stories

The upcoming NATO summit in Prague is the lead topic in all the Czech papers which are already competing for the best scoop on what they call "the lead political event of the year". The papers all promise exclusive interviews with VIPs and special reports every day of the week.

The diplomatic spat between Prague and Minsk rages on today - "Belarus threatens to expel Czech diplomats" is the headline in MLADA FRONTA DNES.

It's impossible to glance at any of today's papers without appreciating the triumph of Jiri Novak shouting in joy after downing tennis star Andre Agassi at the Masters tournament in Shanghai on Wednesday. Novak's photo is featured across the board, even dwarfing the tiny image of Belarussian strongman Alexander Lukashenko on the cover of PRAVO the president of Belarus is threatening to flood western Europe with illegal migrants and drug dealers unless he is given an entry visa to the Czech Republic for next week's NATO summit.

Most of the Czech newspapers on Wednesday carry a picture of Pavel Bem from the Civic Democratic party who is going to become Prague's new mayor. He is shown shaking hands with his colleague from the left-of-centre Social Democratic Party, Jiri Paroubek as the Czech capital will be ruled by a right-left coalition for the next four years.

Tuesday's papers bring no relief for the many thousands of readers who are still shivering with cold in their homes in north-eastern Bohemia following the weekend collapse of a regional heating plant. "No end of this trial in sight " says Mlada Fronta Dnes, reporting that the problem is far more serious than anticipated, and fixing the heating plant may take weeks.

All of today's papers report on the plight of some 150,000 people in eastern Bohemia who are currently without heating and hot water after a ceiling collapsed over the weekend at a local power station.

All the Czech newspapers today ponder the upcoming parliamentary debate on the state budget for next year, and feature a photo of Hana Marvanova, the 'enfant terrible' of the government coalition, who caused a government crisis a couple of months ago.

The victory of the Republicans in the congressional elections in the United States appears on the front pages of all of the Czech Republic's major newspapers today. In each newspaper this topic also shares page one with an issue involving another major power - Russia, which has criticised Czech public television for broadcasting a documentary on Chechnya.

In the aftermath of the local and senate elections political parties are assessing their performance and seeking new allies. Although these negotiations are taking place behind closed doors, information is being leaked to the media by politicians themselves and most papers speculate about forthcoming changes on the Czech political scene.

There is no one story dominating the papers today, although all report on preparations for the NATO summit that is to be held in Prague in two weeks' time, as well as the results of the week-end's Senate and regional elections.