Press Review

Pictures documenting the devastating floods in South Bohemia cover the front pages of all the Czech papers today - Mlada fronta Dnes shows an aerial view of flooded housing estates in Ceske Budejovice. Meanwhile, Lidove noviny features a photograph of two men deep in water, trying to catch beer barrels that the raging torrent swept away from the local brewery.

Pravo carries an interview with the director of Czech Meteorological Institute Ivan Obrusnik, who talks about what to expect over the next couple of days. Water levels in the Ceske Budejovice region will likely fall, but we may see part of Prague's Kampa underwater. According to Mr. Obrusnik, water levels in Prague will peak on Friday around 6 p.m. Since heavy rains are expected to continue, the rescue teams will stay on alert.

On a more positive note now, most papers today feature a photograph of decathlete Roman Sebrle, who has won the gold medal at the European Athletics Championship in Munich. Mlada fronta Dnes, Lidove noviny and Pravo - all carry an interview with the happy athlete who said he had wanted to win the medal for his pregnant wife who accompanied him to Munich.

Lidove noviny writes about artists on Charles Bridge. All activities on the bridge are closely monitored by the Association of Artists, which decides who gets the permit to perform or sell artwork on the bridge. The article portrays one of the legendary characters who's appeared on the bridge nearly every day since 1969. His name is Antonin Votava, better known as "the Devil guy", as he paints almost nothing but devils and likes to wear little devil's horns.

Apparently Mr Votava used to paint portraits as well but the tourists always ended up looking like devils, which they often didn't appreciate. Mr Votava suffers from multiple sclerosis and people tend to take him for a madman, says the paper.

Pravo reports that women at Prague's Jizni Mìsto are no longer living in fear of a rapist who terrorised local women last summer. He attacked nine women - some were raped, some robbed. The 34-year-old Miroslav Toth lost his appeal in a Brno court on Thursday, and will spend the next 11 and a half years in prison.

Moving on, and Mlada fronta Dnes covers conflicts between locals and film crews shooting in the Kampa area near Prague Castle. Kampa inhabitants are becoming fed up with the film crews after a series of incidents, the latest of which involved the police. The Milk & Honey production company parked its vehicles in front of a bar, blocking the entrance and preventing people from going in. The owner complained that he was losing business and had to call the police, who ordered the drivers to leave.

And finally, most of the papers today reports on one of the biggest festivals of dance music ever seen in the Czech Republic, at North Bohemia's Roudnice airfield. The festival - which starts tonight - is called Creamfields and is part of a series of world festivals organised in the past 10 years by the Liverpool club Cream. Roudnice will feature seven stages with some 60 bands and the world's top DJs. One of main attractions is the band Underworld and the DJs Paul Oakenfold and Timo Maas.