Press Review

It's Friday's murder of a policeman at a Prague metro station that the dailies continue to cover today. The Russian speaking man who committed the murder and was taken into custody was found without ID; so far he has refused to co- operate with authorities and his identity remains a mystery to the police.

Monday's dailies also inform readers about ex-foreign minister Jan Kavan and his decision to resign from his post in the European Convention. Lidove noviny writes that Mr Kavan will keep his two other positions - President of the UN General Assembly and a Member of Parliament. Mr Kavan has stressed that his decision to resign from one of his three posts has nothing to do with the controversial case of Karel Srba, Mr. Kavan's former advisor currently under investigation for corruption charges and allegedly plotting to kill a Czech journalist. Mr. Kavan simply believed that he wouldn't be able to perform well enough if he stayed at all three posts.

The Karel Srba case is also tackled by Hospodarske noviny which pays attention to links tying Srba to other suspicious cases at the Foreign Ministry. The daily notes that in recent years two employees of Diplomatic Services, an organisation financed by the Foreign Ministry, have acquired fortunes of unclear origins amounting to millions of Czech crowns.

Moving away from politics, Mlada fronta Dnes invites readers to visit the Prague Lapidarium that features an exhibition called "the Underwater World". Visitors will find 40 aquariums with numerous kinds of tropical fish and wildlife, including species such as red starfish, sea urchins and even sharks. The organisers have brought thousands of fish, water plants and corals from the Indian and Pacific oceans, and plan to keep them in the Lapidarium for five more years.

Pravo is looking into the rights of grieving relatives who have not always been able verify the exact causes behind the deaths of family members. As the Czech law stipulates, doctors are bound with confidentiality and the bereaved family is not allowed to see the medial report. Some people feel that this regulation prevents them from finding out whether their family member received appropriate care and thus complaints are often difficult to justify. The daily cites Health Minister Marie Souckova who says that although the law may be problematic in some areas, there is no plan to change it in the works. The cause of a patient's death is always listed in the death certificate, adds Ms Souckova.

The daily Pravo also reports on a Czech citizen who was accused in Austria of cruelty to animals. The 45-year-old man was trying to transport 115 rare bird species from the Netherlands to Yugoslavia. The Austrian custom officials found the birds crammed in a small space in a van. The birds had been poorly fed and were without water. Three of them were dead, two in critical condition, says the paper.

Foreigners like to buy medicines in the Czech Republic, reads the headline in Hospodarske noviny. Most pharmaceutical products are cheaper than in the EU countries. For this reason, many Germans and Austrians living near the border come to the Czech Republic to buy all they need. Multivitamin tablets or aspirin sell by far the best, although cancer treating Novaltex does not stay behind as it is 8 times cheaper than in Germany or Austria.

Finally, for this Monday we turn to Mlada fronta Dnes and an interview with the legendary hockey goaltender Dominik Hasek. The famous "Dominator" recently quit his career and returned to his hometown Pardubice. However, this is not the last time we will hear from him, writes the paper. On August 18, Pardubice will witness a great party when Dominik brings the Stanley Cup to town, in celebration of his Stanely Cup win with the Detroit Red Wings. It will be a big event and Dominik's final good bye to ice-hockey, says the paper.