Press Review | All stories

The government session where ministers approved the state budget for next year finished shortly before today's daily newspapers went to print, so there is little information and no analysis. Instead, the papers focus on the government's proposed fiscal reforms which are closely connected with the budget.

The coalition government is under pressure from all sides -can it possibly survive? That is the question which commentators are now addressing daily, depending on which way the wind happens to be blowing. Today Prime Minister Vladimir Spidla is seen as having triumphed in the clash of wills with trade unions, who have agreed to desist from further protest actions despite having received no significant concessions from the government.

No one story dominates Tuesday's Czech newspapers, though the end of Jan Kavan's term as president of the United Nations General Assembly does feature prominently everywhere. Mr Kavan tells that he regards the passing of the UN's first ever resolution on the prevention of armed conflict as a great success.

Photos of trade union members at Saturday's demonstration against the government's public finance reform plan are featured on all the front pages today, with all dailies looking into how much the government is willing to react to their demands. Internationally, it is Sweden's referendum on the adoption of the Euro - 56% voted against the single European currency, and the released photo of the possible murderer of Swedish Foreign Minister Anna Lindh that also make the headlines.

One face features on the front pages of all the Czech papers today, Sweden's murdered Foreign Minister Anna Lindh. Mrs Lindh's killing has provoked questions about security for politicians not only in Sweden, but throughout Europe. Also making headlines today - the Pope's visit to Slovakia, and a rebellion in the upper house in parliament over the government's public finance reforms.

The front pages of all the daily newspapers feature two faces: the world's most wanted terrorist Osama bin Laden sitting on a rock on a picture from the latest videotape he sent the media, and ecstatic Czech football striker Jan Koller, who scored one goal in a EURO 2004 qualifying match with the Netherlands, helping his team win the game. According to HOSPODARSKE NOVINY, people were willing to pay many times the face value of tickets for what is described as the match of the year.

Among the stories making the front pages in the Czech dailies today are the funeral of the much-respected Pavel Tigrid, the unveiling of the new Skoda car, the Roomster, and the football fever which has gripped the country ahead of Wednesday night's big game against the Netherlands.

As the second anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks against US targets draws near, the papers are devoting an increasing amount of space to the fight against terrorism. Lidove Noviny has a front page report on US president George Bush's speech to the nation and his plans to ask Congress for more billions for the war against terrorism.

All papers today speculate on the future of the Middle East peace plan, which came under great pressure with the resignation of Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas. Other stories featured on the front pages include the arrival of nine Iraqi children who have come to Prague to undergo heart surgery as part of a humanitarian aid programme, and the disclosure of a new video shot by a Czech construction worker during the terrorist attack on the Twin Towers two years ago.

The smiling face of German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder features on the front pages of all of today's dailies, as Gerhard's plane touches down in Prague for a long-overdue visit. "Germans and Czechs are closer than ever before," writes Chancellor Schroeder in an exclusive interview for MLADA FRONTA DNES, his first ever for a Czech newspaper.