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The first pardons granted by President Vaclav Klaus, the crucial summit on the EU constitution in Brussels and last minute US efforts to influence the outcome of a tender which is to help the Czech government decide on the lease of a fleet of modern fighter jets for the Czech Air Force : those are the main stories on today's front pages.

Czech President Vaclav Klaus said on Monday he hoped the proposed European Union constitution would not be accepted. Mr Klaus was speaking to journalists after a meeting with Prime Minister Vladimir Spidla who was at Prague castle to inform Mr Klaus about the government's position on the matter. Mr Klaus reiterated that the constitution could threaten the sovereignty of the Czech Republic, which will join the EU with nine other countries in May. A Czech delegation is leaving for Brussels this week to take part in an EU summit aimed at finishing talks on the EU document.

The main story dominating all papers today is Monday's rejection of the EU constitution by Czech President Vaclav Klaus. Most dailies also speculate on food prices next year, following the release of latest statistics showing the biggest rise in consumer prices in the last twelve months.

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 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.

A sharp conflict is looming between the Czech Republic and the European Commission. The Commission does not like the way the Czech government has been conducting a public tender for the privatisation of the Severoceske doly and Sokolovska uhelna coal mining companies. The Commission sees the tender conditions as seriously discriminatory and says it suspects covert state aid.

Leaders of the three ruling parties have agreed on pension reform principles based on the Swedish model. Czech retail sales advanced at the fastest annual rate in three and a half years in September. Czech producer prices jumped 0.6 percent month-on-month in October. Most of Central Europe's largest economies not expected to join the euro zone until 2009, a survey showed. Czech Telecom warns of slipping into a loss, redundancies, unless allowed to hike prices. TDC said has pulled out of Ceske Radiokomunikace, stays in Contactel. Half of Czech travel

Unemployment falls to below 10 percent. Food prices push Czech inflation slightly higher, reversing trend. Industrial production sees increase in September. Seasonally adjusted construction output at constant prices up 0.2% m-o-m. Government offers more money to bail out indebted hospitals. Czech farmers seek exception from EU bone-meal ban. Official: report of Czech illegal workers in U.S. exaggerated. North Moravian municipalities against planned nuclear plant. Czech Railways to lease Prague's main station to Grandi Stazioni of Italy.

Without a doubt one of the most interesting items making the front-pages this day is the BBC's interview with Vaclav Klaus. The Czech president appeared on the BBC's hard-hitting discussion programme Hardtalk, hosted by Tim Sebastian, on Monday. The programme, which does exactly what its title implies, asked some tough questions of the Czech president, asking him to reflect on the situation of the Czech Roma and alleged weapons exports, both issues the president downplayed or rejected outright, says MLADA FRONTA DNES. The daily quotes the president