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Friday's decision by Milos Kuzvart not to run for the post of European Commissioner, and Prime Minister Vladimir Spidla's sudden collapse on Friday morning, are the main stories in the dailies today. All the papers speculate who will be replace Kuzvart to become the country's representative in the European Commission, and come to the conclusion that Monday will see heated debate at a meeting of the ruling coalition parties, as it is unlikely they will agree on one person. Most dailies feature a photo of Prime Minister Spidla taking it easy on a

Every one of the Czech dailies leads on Friday with the sentencing of Petr Smetka, head of the fraudulent building company H-System, to 12 years in prisoin. Mr Smetka is shown in a variety of poses in front page photographs, though in none of them does he betray much emotion.

Most, if not all of today's Czech dailies reflect on the meeting of the so-called "Big Three" - Tony Blair, Gerhard Schroeder, and Jacques Chirac - in Berlin, exercising an attempt to focus on needed changes in the EU, including the economic sphere. Mlada Fronta Dnes notes critical reaction from other EU countries and politicians like Italy's Silvio Berlesconi; Czech Prime Minister Vladimir Spidla is also quoted downplaying the risk of various power circles, though the prime minister does say European integration should not see countries integrate

There's good news and bad news in today's papers - Czechs might not be able to work freely in the current 15 members of the European Union after enlargement, but they will be able to work in the other nine countries that join on May 1st. Bad news for opponents of abortion, it seems few of the MPs who've received graphic photographs of aborted foetuses have been persuaded to back a bill banning abortion.

Stony faces in place of polite smiles on the front page of Lidove Noviny: the visit of the Dutch Prime Minister Peter Balkenend to Prague passed under a cloud of displeasure after the Dutch head of government announced that his country would allow Czechs only limited access to the Dutch labour market after the Czech Republic joins the EU in May. The Czech Prime Minister has threatened reciprocal action, says Pravo, but given the number of EU countries which are adopting a wary stand and restricting access to their labour markets such a policy would

All today's papers report on the "victory" of Prime Minister and Social Democrat leader at his party's meeting at the weekend. "Spidla defeats rebels", Mlada Fronta Dnes writes. Another story that makes the headlines is a tragedy in a Moscow aquapark whose roof collapsed, burying swimmers in metal, glass and concrete. Lidove Noviny, Mlada Fronta Dnes and Hospodarske Noviny all sport the same photo of a rescue worker carrying a shocked small boy shivering with cold.

All the Czech dailies give a lot of front-page space to the announcement by South-Korean scientists that they have cloned 30 human embryos to obtain stem cells, which they hope could one day be used to treat diseases. There is a lot more variety in the choice of domestic stories on the front pages.

The Social Democratic Party, the senior partner in the ruling coalition, makes the front pages of all main dailies today. While disagreement within the party over rent and another VAT hike sees Mlada Fronta Dnes lead with a headline reading "Social Democrats in serious crisis," Lidove Noviny and Pravo choose to celebrate the fact that this disagreement will most likely result in the prices of water, sewage collection and tickets to cultural events not being raised.

Images from around the world dominate today's Czech dailies: from pictures of Muslim women protesting the ban on religious headscarves in France, to the crash of a plane that killed 40 in the United Arab Emirates. On the domestic scene the dailies focus on several top stories, including the continuing split in the governing coalition over raising regulated rents and star goaltender Dominik Hasek's announcement that due to injury he'll be out for the rest of the NHL hockey season; that in a year Mr Hasek had widely been expected to make a come-back

President Klaus' growing popularity, unemployment reaching an all time high and continuing controversy over the government's fiscal reform - those are the main stories on today' s front pages. The papers also report on clean up operations on Czech roads in the wake of a damaging windstorm and the heightened number of accidents caused by bad weather.