Press Review

Well it's the Czech Republic's TV Nova in the headlines again as the situation at the country's most successful private TV station grows more and more serious. Yesterday it became clear, writes Mlada fronta Dnes, that more than twenty-five percent of Nova now belongs to a secret owner, a revelation that swept aside two weeks of complicated negotiations in which various players in the struggle had been scrambling to reach some kind of a compromise.

As the confusion over ownership at Nova deepens and talks grind to a halt, the station must still, however, find a way of quickly repaying a billion-crown loan to the ABN Amro bank, and also find a way to get additional financial help. Mlada fronta Dnes says another Czech bank turned down the station on Thursday. This hardly comes as a surprise to Lidove noviny, though, which questions why any investor would inject funds into Nova when the situation concerning ownership has grown so murky that even the state doesn't seem to know what's going on.

The paper writes that under such circumstances it would be more attractive for investors to simply wait for the TV giant to go under, before snapping up the broadcasting licence. Lidove noviny adds that while such a decision would certainly cost more, it would be a much safer - and apparently more transparent - investment.

Meanwhile, more serious questions face Czech Intelligence these days, the question of safety in the Czech Republic. Though it is still more than four months away, November's NATO summit in Prague could potentially make the capital an attractive target for a terrorist attack. Friday's Pravo features an interview with the head of Czech Intelligence, Frantisek Bublan, who says that the intelligence services are currently gathering information and putting together crisis analysis for the summit.

In response, Pravo features a full page on the subject of safety, anti-terrorist training and Czech commandos in practice: Thursday saw an international gathering of anti-terrorist services at the Slapy dam south of Prague, and Pravo features a photo of Czech commandos that looks like a still from a Hollywood action film. Says strike force head Libor Lochman "We train on a daily basis... we train against [strikes] in the metro, on planes, basically everything...we're ready for November...". Frantisek Bublan, however, says it is impossible to rule out all possibility of an attack, and that if he could do so he would be a happy man.

From anti-terror to finances and we now look at the strengthening Czech crown. Friday's Hospodarske noviny writes that nothing stands in the strengthening crown's way for the moment, after the central bank decided not to lower interest rates on Thursday. But intervention is expected soon: experts say those interested in buying euros shouldn't waste time, the paper writes. Hospodarske noviny adds that once the central bank does take steps it will bump the Czech crown back to about 30 crowns to the euro.

Finally, for this Friday, we turn back to Lidove noviny and their weekend supplement, which offers a feature article on how Czech women have changed over the years; the cover shows a young lady dressed in the styles of the times - 1950, 1970, and 2002. The 2002 woman is represented as more elegant with a spaghetti strap black dress, chic business glasses, silver hoops, and a more natural lip gloss, but to be perfectly honest the cover girl still looks quite attractive in the fake-lashes style of the 1950s.

That's only the cover though, alongside the article is a detailed sociological study put together by SC&C, interviewing Czech women between the ages of 18 and 70: you'll find out what some Czech women consider to be major priorities for modern women: for example just over 28 percent say that it's diligence and hard work, 18 percent say it's the ability to successfully care for the family, and 10 percent say independence is the most important. What do they consider to be their greatest failing? 22 percent say that it's envy.