Czech news in brief for October 9: Thursday's top morning headlines

ANO party leader Andrej Babiš said Wednesday he hopes to finalize a coalition “floor plan” with the SPD and Motorists by Friday. He expects agreement on parliamentary committee posts next week and a coalition deal before the new parliament meets Nov. 3. Babiš also ruled out replacing police president Martin Vondrášek, rejecting SPD leader Tomio Okamura’s call for his removal as “inappropriate” and insisting ANO will oppose such moves.

Google has launched a new AI-powered search mode in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, offering users direct, in-depth answers instead of traditional search results. The feature, powered by Gemini language models, allows multimodal queries via text, voice, or images. While Google says it enhances user experience, publishers warn it could further reduce website traffic as users receive complete answers without clicking through to external sites.

The Austrian Erste Group’s Reico real estate fund is acquiring the Palladium Prague shopping center, the Office for the Protection of Competition said Wednesday. The deal, being reviewed under a simplified procedure, is expected to be approved within 20 days. Palladium, currently owned by Germany’s Union Investment, was purchased in 2015 for 570 million euros. Reports earlier this year valued the property at about 700 million euros (17 billion crowns).

Daytime temperatures in the Czech Republic will reach 12 to 17 degrees Celsius this weekend, with rain expected mainly in the north and northeast, the Czech Hydrometeorological Institute said Thursday. Elsewhere, skies will be partly cloudy with only occasional showers. Conditions will cool early next week, bringing snow to mountain areas. Night temperatures will range from 5 to 10 degrees before dropping near freezing next week.

The 27th Designblok international design and fashion festival, Central and Eastern Europe’s largest event of its kind, opened Tuesday at venues across Prague and runs through Oct. 12. Featuring more than 200 designers, studios and brands, the festival includes exhibitions at the Krizik Pavilions, Prague Castle’s Royal Summer Palace and the Rudolfinum Gallery. Awards, including one for Spanish architect Patricia Urquiola, will be presented Thursday.