Thursday News Briefing

NEWS

ELECTIONS Prague's City Court is set to deliver a verdict today on a complaint filed by the Green Party and the Public Affairs party regarding the redistricting of Prague ahead of recent local and Senate elections said to have influenced the result, the daily Právo reported. Citing inside sources, the daily Hospodářské noviny reported that the court is most likely to rule that the complaint is not a valid one. Head of the Greens Ondřej Liška has said he would take the complaint to the Constitutional Court.

NEGOTIATION Ahead of a negotiation session between the Civic Democrats and the TOP 09 party, a member of TOP 09's team of negotiators, Tomáš Hudeček, said he considers chances of a coalition between the two parties very low, the Czech News Agency (ČTK) reported Nov. 11. He added he has reason to believe the Civic Democrats already made a deal with the Social Democrats (ČSSD) to jointly lead City Hall. The head of the ODS's Prague chapter, Boris Štastný, denies the allegations.    

DRUGS The number of long-term drug users has increased by 5,000 to about 37,500, according to the government's annual drug report published Nov. 10. Last year saw an increase of users of amphetamines as well as opiates. More than half of the Czech population under 24 has tried drugs, and in people between 15 and 34, the country has more cannabis users than any other European state.  

BUSINESS

BANKING ČSOB reported a net profit of 10.25 billion Kč, up 12 percent year on year, making the bank the profit leader, the daily Hospodářské noviny reported Nov. 11. Lending slipped 3 percent. Komerční banka follows ČSOB, with total assets of 9.96 billion Kč.  

HOTELS Overnight stays at Prague hotels increased 8.1 percent compared with last year, the daily Mladá fronta Dnes reported Nov. 11. The number of individual hotel guests rose 300,000 to 3.5 million. Last-minute room rates were down 50 percent to 60 percent.  

ŠKODA Škoda Auto's worldwide car sales were up 11.9 percent on the year in the first 10 months of 2010, to 638,000 cars. The company's third-quarter results will be published Nov. 12. Analysts told The Wall Street Journal they expect the carmaker's sales to reach 700,000 by the end of 2010, which would be an all-time record. Chairman Winfred Vahland has a goal of doubling output to 1.5 million units by 2020.  

WEATHER

Prague, Czech Republic Nov. 11. Chance of rain. High: 6C. Low: 4C.