Press Review

There's no business like show business, if you go by the front pages of today's Czech dailies. All of them, with the one exception of Hospodarske noviny, carry reports on the two big entertainment events of the weekend: the Miss World beauty contest and the annual Czech music awards, Cesky slavik. But the world is not always a beautiful place: alongside this news, we can also read about fears of Al Qaeda terrorist attacks in Prague.

Reports in the Israeli press that claim that Al Qaeda is planning terrorist attacks against Israeli tourists in Prague appear prominently on all of the front pages of the Czech dailies. Mlada fronta dnes writes that the Czech Republic is a magnet for Israeli tourists, with around a quarter of a million Israelis visiting Prague every year, and that it could therefore be prone to terrorist attacks. The newspaper reports that the Czech police and secret services have stated that there is currently no such threat to Israeli tourists, but those involved in Prague's tourist industry fear that such news will keep tourists away.

The race for Czech president continues to attract much attention from the Czech newspapers. A meeting of the central executive committee of the Social Democrats on Saturday confirmed Jaroslav Bures as the party's candidate in the presidential elections, meaning that former Social Democrat premier Milos Zeman's first attempt to return to politics was unsuccessful. Hospodarske noviny writes that Mr Zeman attended the meeting and personally tried to convince the leadership of the Social Democrats to nominate him. He also took the opportunity to criticise the current coalition government, especially the presence of the Freedom Union in it and the fact that the Social Democrats do not hold some important ministries.

Although the presidential elections are perhaps not the best example of Czech ingenuity, there is still much to learn from the Czech Republic. That is indeed what the Vietnamese think: Mlada fronta dnes reports from the town of Zelezna ruda in southern Bohemia, where a number of Vietnamese children recently arrived from Vietnam are studying at the local school. Parents in Vietnam want their children to come and study in the Czech Republic, and the head of the Vietnamese community in Zelezna ruda says that this is because they consider European schools - including those in the Czech Republic - the best in the world. While Czech schools may be famed in Vietnam, Czech pop music still has a way to go before it hits the charts in Hanoi. At the State Opera in Prague on Saturday night, the best of the Czech music industry was on show for the annual Czech music awards, Cesky slavik. Pravo's front page carries a picture of the two big winners from the awards: pop star Lucie Bila, who was voted the best female singer, and vintage crooner Karel Gott, who was voted best male singer - for the twenty eighth time. But the biggest round of applause was reserved for Czech music's grand dame Helena Vondrackova, even though she only came second in the voting for best female singer.

And, yes, one other big competition took place this weekend: the Miss World Contest. This year's contest was the most controversial ever, and it sparked violent riots in Nigeria that saw it relocated from that country to London. Lidove noviny's front page carries a photo of this year's winner, Azra Akin from Turkey. The Czech Republic's entrant, Katerina Smrzova, did not make it into the top ten in this year's contest - but at least she was able to flee from Nigeria unscathed.