Press Review

Today's newspapers contain many reviews of this year's cultural, economic, political and sporting highlights, and also take a look at what the big events may be for next year. But while it is in vogue at this time of year to look at the past and the future, there is still the present, and today's major domestic news stories include the death of the popular actor Julius Satinsky and the icy weather conditions across the country.

Comedian Julius Satinsky, one of the most famous Slovak actors, died yesterday at the age of 61. He performed in many films and plays, and since 1959 was part of the comic duo L+S, together with Milan Lasica. In addition, he was the author of several books and a columnist for Lidove noviny. Mlada fronta dnes pays a tribute to Mr Satinsky, and writes that his timeless humour made him a favourite among all generations, and that he was the type of comedian that you only had to look at in order to start laughing.

The black ice that has been causing problems in the country in the past week is slowly melting away, reports Hospodarske noviny. The conditions have caused dozens of traffic accidents, including the deaths of eight people, among them five children. It has also led to traffic congestion, prevented public transport services from reaching some parts of Prague, and prompted the closure of Prague's international airport from Thursday night to Friday afternoon.

Pravo reports that Czech courts have 400 000 unsettled cases to deal with, and that this is one of the Czech Republic's negative attributes as it moves closer to entering the EU. Commercial cases fare the worst, as 14 per cent of them have not been closed after seven years, while a third of criminal cases have not been closed after two years. The president of the Supreme Court, Iva Brozova, tells Pravo that the problem lies in the legal culture, and that the attitude of judges towards the law needs to be changed.

The main headline on Lidove noviny's front page brings good news for next year: 2003 will see a record increase in pay for Czechs, principally because of the current development of the Czech economy. The best improvements will be seen in the public service, where the average increase in pay will be 7 per cent, while in the private sector the increase is expected to average 5 per cent.

And maybe it is because they are doing so well economically that many Czechs are not missing the old Czechoslovakia too much. Lidove noviny reports that there has been a clear increase in the number of Czechs who think that the separation of Czechoslovakia was a good thing. Shortly after the demise of the federation in 1993, a third of Czech citizens supported the split, but these days the figure has increased to 43 per cent. But Czechs are still split on the split: 46 per cent of those questioned still think that the "velvet divorce" was not the right way to go.