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The story of the day in many of Friday's Czech papers is without a doubt growing tensions over Iraq, and how it has divided Europe. PRAVO writes that on Tuesday Czech Prime Minister Vladimir Spidla and Minister of Foreign Affairs Cyril Svoboda will arrive in Brussels to outline the Czech position on possible war on Iraq. Officially, however, no EU candidate countries, including the Czech Republic, will take part in negotiations to try and hammer out a common European stance, reconciling differences - that privilege has been reserved for member

The Czech Republic's decision to support Turkey in the dispute which is currently rocking NATO makes the headlines in many of Thursday's papers. As for photos, stars of the Czech football team feature strongly after their shock defeat of European champions France in Paris on Wednesday night.

Tuesday's front pages cover everything from Osama bin Laden to the Oscar nominations to the continuing attempts to find a new Czech president. One name being hotly discussed is Jan Sokol, a Charter 77 signatory and former education minister. Mr Sokol tells HOSPODARSKE NOVINY that while he doesn't have the charisma of Vaclav Havel, he could communicate better with both the Chamber of Deputies and the cabinet.

NATO -divided over Iraq, record unemployment in the Czech Republic, reports of widespread corruption in a Czech prison and who will be the next head of state - those are the lead stories on today's front pages. Somewhat in the shadow of these developments is the news that over 200,000 people in the Czech Republic have succumbed to a flu epidemic.

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.