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The government's plans for pension reform, the withdrawal of the Czech field hospital from Basra and the unveiling of a Franz Kafka statue in Prague have all received front page coverage in Lidove Noviny. Pravo has highlighted the shaky position of Foreign Minster Cyril Svoboda within his own party, while Mlada Fronta Dnes carries a detailed front page report on Transport Minister Simonovsky's proposal to get tough with undisciplined drivers.

Parliament's passing of next year's state budget including its record 115 billion crown deficit, as well as a street protest by students angry over the under-financing of Czech universities - both make the front pages of today's dailies. One of the headlines in reads "Relief for the government - the budget has passed", while showing a photo of a visibly pleased Prime Minister Vladmir Spidla.

President Klaus's trip to Sweden is featured heavily in the dailies today - MLADA FRONTA DNES shows the president standing side by side with Sweden's King Carl XVI Gustav at the royal palace in Stockholm. All the papers feature coverage of the Czech president's address to the Swedish parliament, in which he laid into the single European currency.

The New Zealand premiere of the third and final film in the Lord of the Rings series is very much in the spotlight with photos of actress Liv Tyler gracing most of the front pages. The papers offer details and gossip relating to the film and remind Czech fans that its premiere in the Czech Republic is scheduled for January 15th.

The Czech Republic can start celebrating, writes MLADA FRONTA DNES in its leading article, alluding to last weekend's meeting of European Union foreign ministers. Like the nine other acceding countries, the Czech Republic will most probably have its own representative on the European Union Commission. And there are many prospective applicants among Czech politicians, the paper writes.

All of today's papers - even the no-nonsense financial daily HOSPODARSKE NOVINY - run front-page photos of George Bush's surprise Thanksgiving visit to Iraq. Also making headlines, President Klaus gives the government grief after rejecting a second key bill, and the Czech ambassador to Kuwait Jana Hybaskova, who's been sacked after criticising her government over its policy in Iraq.

Today's Czech dailies lead with a variety of stories: PRAVO reports that gas and electricity prices are to rise from the beginning of January, LIDOVE NOVINY says MPs have crudely insulted Education Minister Petra Buzkova, while MLADA FRONTA DNES leads with the story that children's hospitals around the Czech Republic are to be closed.

All the papers report on the shocking figures released by the UNAIDS and WHO organisations warning that a record three million people have died from AIDS this year. Domestically, it's a mix of stories that make the headlines ranging from Hyundai Motor's decision not to build its car plant in the Czech Republic to the increasing number of junk mail sent to Czech homes.

Monday's tragic fire at a Moscow student dormitory makes the front pages of several dailies today, with PRAVO as usual featuring a grisly and gratuitous photo of one of the victims. Also making headlines today is the ongoing situation in Georgia, and closer to home, pay rises for the country's teachers and scientists.

The dramatic weekend events in Georgia culminating in the resignation of President Eduard Sevarnadze fill the front pages of all Czech dailies. "Georgia's Velvet Revolution" reads the lead headline in today's Lidove Noviny. All the papers sport pictures of thousand-strong demonstrations in Tbilisi, reminiscent of the street protests that led to the fall of communism in former Czechoslovakia in 1989.