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Among the domestic topics in today's dailies the one that dominates is the likely candidacy of former Environment Minister and current Social Democrat MP Milos Kuzvart for the post of Czech European Commissioner. The papers also pay a good deal of attention to a new clause in the labour code which defines sexual harassment as a criminal offence.

The return home of two Czech prisoners serving 50 year jail sentences for heroin smuggling in Thailand is splashed across today's front pages. "Handcuffed, behind bars, but home" reads the lead headline in Mlada Fronta Dnes.

The return of two Czech drug mules from Thai prisons to see out their sentences in Czech jails receives a lot of attention in Tuesday's dailies, as does the ongoing search for a Czech European commissioner. LIDOVE NOVINY reports that most of the governing Social Democrats' potential candidates lack the language requirements for the job.

After a relatively quiet weekend the papers feature a variety of domestic stories on their front pages: yet another case of paramedics being attacked by a drunk when responding to an emergency call, maintenance problems on Czech roads in the wake of heavy snow, and statistics which say that Czechs are the worlds biggest beer drinkers.

All Czech papers today pay much attention to an estimate released by the Czech Statistics Office yesterday, according to which Czechs are dying out. All dailies choose different aspects of the statistics: LIDOVE NOVINY's headline reads that this country will need 25,000 immigrants every year to fill the shortfall, MLADA FRONTA DNES says that Prime Minister Vladimir Spidla urges Czechs to have more children and PRAVO's gloomy headline writes "We are dying out". The economic daily HOSPODARSKE NOVINY stays true to its name when it writes "Ageing of the

The bad weather makes the front pages, although what's bad for some is not necessarily bad for others. MLADA FRONTA DNES shows a man cross-country skiing along the tram tracks in Prague's Bila Hora district, while LIDOVE NOVINY has a photo of someone snowboarding on Petrin Hill, with a snow-topped Prague Castle behind him.

There are a variety of stories on Wednesday's front pages, though both PRAVO and MLADA FRONTA DNES lead with Vaclav Havel's early return from Asia. The former president was due to spend three weeks there, but had to abandon the trip after just three days due to breathing problems. Another name in the news is Czech cross-country skier Katerina Neumannova: several papers carry photos of Ms Neumannova, who on Tuesday won her second World Cup race in a row, just six months after having a baby.

The papers have all come out with dramatic headlines today: Terror of letter bombs in the EU, says Mlada Fronta Dnes, reporting on extensive security measures now in force in all EU institutions. Lidove Noviny reports on the outcome of a police investigation according to which the former Czechoslovak foreign minister Jan Masaryk did not commit suicide in 1948 but was murdered by KGB agents. While Pravo has reserved much of its front page for what it calls "a calamity" on Czech roads and airports in the wake of heavy snow.

The tragic Egyptian charter plane crash that left 148 dead and panoramic colour images of Mars released by NASA after establishing contact with a US probe to search for signs of life on the Red Planet make the front pages of almost all the main dailies today. Domestically, it's a photo of Czech actress Helena Ruzickova that dominates the papers. Mrs Ruzickova died on Sunday at the age of 67 after losing a two-year battle against cancer.

January 1st being a holiday -the papers all welcome the New Year in on the morning of January 2nd- highlighting President Klaus' very first New Year's address to the nation, reporting on the New Year celebrations which are said to have been exceptionally boisterous this year and listing all the changes that the new year is expected to bring.