Czech morning news in brief: Top headlines for Aug. 9, 2021

Sun and temperatures into the 30s forecast for the Czech Republic this week

After weekend full of strong storms throughout the Czech Republic, high temperatures and only a rare chance of rain are in the forecast through the end of this week, according to the Czech Hydrometeorological Institute. Over the weekend, the highest amount of precipitation was record at a weather station in Karlova Ves in Rakovník, west of Prague, which reporteted 16 milimeters of rain.

Isolated storms are expected to occur on Tuesday; temperatures will slowly climb throughout the week before reaching highs in the 30s on Friday. Another cold front with potential rain is in the forecast for next weekend.

Czech NBA player Tomáš Satoranský traded to New Orleans for Lonzo Ball

Czech basketball star Tomáš Satoranský has been traded from the Chicago Bulls to the New Orleans Pelicans, along with guard Garrett Temple and a 2024 draft pick, for Lonzo Ball. The 23-year-old Ball was the second overall draft pick in the 2017 NBA draft and one of the biggest young names in professional basketball alongside his brother LaMelo Ball, who was selected third overall in the 2020 draft.

The NBA is investigating the circumstances of the trade, a controversial trade-and-sign deal in which Ball was immediately signed to a 4-year, $85 million dollar contract upon being traded to Chicago. Satoranský recently led the Czech Republic to its first-ever Summer Olympics appearance; the Czech team was eliminated after losses to France and the United States.

Thousands of Czech police to monitor observance of speed limits this week

Thousands of police officers will be monitoring the observance of speed limits on roads across the Czech Republic through Friday within an anti-speeding campaign co-organised by the Czech Transport Ministry's road safety division. Speeding has been one of the most tragic causes of road accidents in the Czech Republic, leading to 78 deaths and 195 serious injuries during the first half of 2021 alone.

This week, checks will focus on making sure drivers are observing the maximum permitted speeds. In addition, police will distribute leaflets to warn drivers of the risk of serious accidents related to speeding. Since the beginning of the year, Czech police have dealt with more than 65,000 driving offences related to speeding.

Equa bank systems back to normal after error led to incorrect balances in client accounts

Equa bank was forced to shut down its online banking systems on Sunday morning after incorrect amounts began to appear in client accounts on Saturday. The systems are now back online, according to bank representatives. Errors in the amounts of millions of crowns were shown, one of the bank's clients told CTK.

"Equa bank had to proceed with an unplanned shutdown of its banking systems, which took place on August 7 at 11:11 pm and ended on August 8 at 4:59 am. The shutdown was caused by technical problems on the part of the bank, during which there was a short-term error, which subsequently caused the incorrect amount of balances to be displayed on client accounts. All our systems are now fully functional," said an Equa bank spokesperson.

Czech-Polish agreement on controversial Turow Mine not on the horizon

Polish PM Mateusz Morawiecki said as early as May that an agreement with the Czech Republic about the Turow lignite mine would soon be struck, but the end of negotiations is still not in sight, Polish newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza writes. According to the paper, residents of the Czech border area situated close to Poland's Turow mine are annoyed that no Czech politician has reacted to the European Commission's readiness to join the negotiations, though the exerting pressure on Poland would be easier for Prague with European assistance. On May 25, Morawiecki announced that the countries were close to a deal after talks with Czech counterpart Andrej Babiš at an EU summit.