Czech news in brief for August 25: Tuesday's top morning headlines

Parliament votes this morning on whether to override President Pavel's veto of a contested budget law, with the ruling coalition holding just enough seats to push it through. European Council President António Costa lands in Prague on Thursday to talk EU budget with PM Babiš, and tighter security measures are coming to Liberec Zoo. Good morning, here's your headline mix.

The Chamber of Deputies meets today to try to override President Petr Pavel's veto of an amendment that reshapes how the state manages public funds, a bill Pavel says partially violates the constitution by cutting parliamentary oversight in favor of the government. The ANO-SPD-Motorists coalition holds 108 of the 200 seats, five more than the 101 needed to override. The opposition is expected to filibuster.

Worth watching: Pavel says the government dismissed his objections outright rather than debating them, a dynamic likely to keep resurfacing as this coalition tests the limits of its majority.

European Council President António Costa meets PM Andrej Babiš on Thursday as part of an EU-wide tour focused on the bloc's 2028–2034 budget. Czechia is his third stop after Slovakia, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania; a deal isn't expected until the December EU summit.

Numbers to know: The European Commission's draft budget runs to EUR 1.76 trillion; Babiš has said a smaller Cypriot counterproposal is more favorable to Czechia, though still not enough.

The Health and Interior Ministries have three weeks to draft laws closing gaps that let sellers dodge existing rules on kratom and other psychoactive substances, PM Babiš said after today's cabinet meeting. Sixteen proposals, including a ban on enriching industrial hemp, have already cleared inter-ministerial review.

Context: Babiš has singled out Prague shops that target tourists who end up hospitalized; a separate draft would raise the legal kratom age to 21 starting in 2027.

An Olomouc court sentenced a then-15-year-old to 9.5 years, the harshest juvenile sentence in a decade, for beating two men to death in the Šumperk region last year, two weeks apart. He pleaded guilty to all charges; the verdict is not yet final.

Also on the record: Investigators say he'd assaulted three other people in the months before the killings.

Fake tour offers are spreading through social media travel groups in Czechia, with scammers posing as agencies, collecting deposits, then vanishing. Some fabricate Booking-style confirmation emails to look legitimate.

Check first: Only licensed Czech travel agencies carry mandatory insurance; the Ministry of Regional Development keeps a public registry, and it's worth checking before wiring anyone a deposit.

Rain offers 'shroomers hope. Mushroom hunters are still coming up empty across most of Czechia, but experts say last week's rain could bring the first boletus and champignons within a week or two if temperatures cooperate.

Zoo security tightened. An autopsy confirmed that Liberec Zoo's last sea lion died after swallowing part of a child's doll found in his pool. The zoo is adding cameras and asking visitors to report anything that falls into an enclosure.

A wide range. Ostrava opened the country's most modern shooting range on a former derelict site in Hulváky, built underground so gas and air-rifle shooting won't disturb neighbors. It opens to the public in September, with room for Olympic-level training and team-building days.