Press Review

All of the main dailies report on a decision by the Lower House to increase the salaries of the Czech police as the top story today. PRAVO features a brief interview with former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who is currently in Prague attending the annual session of the International Olympic Committee. And staying with the Olympics, Vancouver winning the bid to host the 2010 Winter Olympics also makes the front pages.

The approval of a law that will raise the salaries of the police, customs officers, and Prison Service employees by a third, has met with criticism in all the leading papers today. LIDOVE NOVINY and MLADA FRONTA DNES point out that these civil servants can expect a significant pay raise while most Czechs have to get ready to tighten their belts due to the government's planned budget cuts and austerity measures. The salaries of the police, for example, will rise by 7,000 Czech crowns on average to reach 32,000 crowns. This is twice as much as the national average wage, writes MLADA FRONTA DNES.

But LIDOVE NOVINY points out that most MPs for the ruling coalition were against the proposed law but had to let it pass through the lower house because of their two Social Democrat colleagues. While Interior Minister Stanislav Gross said he would resign if the law failed, his deputy Petr Ibl threatened to reject the government's new public finance reform plan. NATO, the EU and the Middle East conflict are the main topics PRAVO features in its interview with former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. Mr Kissinger highlighted last year's NATO summit in Prague during which seven countries were invited to become members of the alliance. He notes that the role of the United States in NATO is connected with its relations with Europe. But when asked to comment on the EU convent, Mr Kissinger replies he would rather not discuss internal European politics.

Czech fans of Harry Potter books have a cause for celebration. LIDOVE NOVINY reports that a group of Harry Potter readers decided to wait no longer for an official Czech translation of the latest edition to hit the shelves. A copy of their own translation can be found on the web. The paper says the Czech translation, featuring the first nineteen chapters of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is very much like the original. The paper quotes Patrik Salamon from the Albatros publishing house that holds the rights to all Czech Harry Potter translations as saying that those behind the electronic version had violated the copyright of the book's author J. K. Rowling. The official translator Pavel Medek expresses surprise at the speed with which the latest edition was translated. "I don't believe one person did the job," he says.

And finally, MLADA FRONTA DNES reports that Czech cross-country skier and winner of four Olympic medals Katerina Neumannova has given birth to a baby girl. Lucie was born healthy on Wednesday afternoon, measuring 51 centimetres and weighing 3.75 kg.