News

The culling of poultry at a large-scale farm in Valdíkov in the Třebíč region, where avian influenza has been confirmed, began Wednesday roughly two hours before noon. Veterinarians said that, together with firefighters, they will cull 18,000 week-old ducklings and 2,500 fattened ducks at the AGRO-V company’s farm. However, according to a representative of the farm, many of the slaughter-ready ducks have already died.

Some ministers, ahead of Wednesday's cabinet meeting, expressed support for the outgoing government to once again submit next year’s state budget proposal to the Chamber of Deputies. According to them, the proposal should remain unchanged from the end of September, when the cabinet, before the elections, sent a budget with a planned deficit of 286 billion crowns. Upon arriving at the cabinet meeting, ministers also rejected criticism from the emerging government coalition of ANO, SPD, and Motorists Themselves, which claims there is a lack of funds in the budget. The ministers consider the proposal to be realistic.

David Pastrňák reached a major milestone in the NHL, scoring his 400th career goal and adding another tally and an assist in Boston’s 5–3 victory over Toronto. The 29-year-old forward became only the third Czech player to surpass the 400-goal mark in the league, after Jaromír Jágr (766) and Patrik Eliáš (408). Pastrňák assisted on Pavel Zacha’s opening goal, then scored twice—first on a breakaway early in the second period and later on a power play to seal the win. He was named the game’s first star as the Bruins celebrated their seventh consecutive victory.

On Wednesday, the caretaker government resubmitted to the Chamber of Deputies the draft state budget for 2026. It is identical to the original proposal from the end of September, with a deficit of 286 billion crowns. Prime Minister Petr Fiala (ODS) told journalists after the cabinet meeting. The government had already submitted the budget once, but after the October elections, the newly elected deputies could not consider it. The government also approved the budget of the Transport Infrastructure Fund, with expenditures of 187 billion crowns.