Press Review

Two stories dominate Wednesday's front pages: the killing of Saddam Hussein's two sons by United States forces in Iraq, and the threat to the governing coalition posed by the surprise resignation of Josef Hojdar from the Social Democrats' group in the Chamber of Deputies.

Following the discovery of the frozen bodies of four Czech climbers on a mountain in the Caucasus, Adolf Kleps of the Krkonose mountain rescue tells PRAVO it was strange the group did not register with the local authorities. The four were discovered by chance by a team searching for a Polish climber. Mr Kleps says an increasing number of Czechs are travelling to high mountain ranges in Russia and other former Soviet states.

MLADA FRONTA DNES reports that a plan to repair Prague's world famous Charles Bridge has been shelved by the city's Town Hall. A public collection to help finance the repairs - which had raised over eight million crowns - has also been discontinued.

PRAVO calls the decision a victory for preservationists, who were opposed to the project on the table. While a new plan has been commissioned, deputy mayor Jan Buergermeister tells the daily that the idea of dramatically reconstructing Charles Bridge has been abandoned.

On a related theme, MLADA FRONTA DNES reports on a victory for those opposed to plans to build a ramp for cars on Kampa and to lock the park at night. The ramp had been intended to shorten car journeys through Mala Strana. Prague 1 Town Hall abandoned the project after years of heated debate, though a member of the Club for Ancient Prague points out that the issue of reconstructing Kampa Park will have to addressed sometime.

LIDOVE NOVINY reports that the European Commission has ordered European Union member states to introduce stricter conditions for tattooing and piercing, in order to protect the health of citizens. While that demand will affect Czech studios offering these services, people in the field interviewed by the daily say they already have high standards. Since May, tattoo artists and piercers have had to take a course taught by nurses and approved by the Czech Ministry of Health.

The Rolling Stones have received a lot of press coverage this week, ahead of the group's concert on Prague's Letna plain on Sunday. The Stones will use the changing rooms at the nearby Sparta Prague football stadium, writes MLADA FRONTA DNES. The group will spend four days in the city, during which time Mick Jagger will celebrate his 60th birthday in the company of friends, including former Czech president Vaclav Havel and his wife Dagmar.