Czech news in brief for October 30: Thursday’s top morning headlines

Microsoft’s global Azure cloud outage disrupted Czech services, including the National Identity Authority and the Transport Portal. The company said a configuration error caused the failure and that systems would be fully restored by 00:20 Central European time on Oct. 30. Similar problems hit airlines, Office 365, Xbox Live and global apps such as Starbucks and Costco.

Over 100,000 Czech women have been treated for breast cancer, with five-year survival exceeding 90 percent, up from 78 percent in 2013. “Early diagnosis and innovative therapies are key,” said National State Health Institute director Ladislav Dušek. Mammograms for women over 45 are covered every two years; mortality has dropped by 20 percent since 2002, though 1,700 women still die annually.

After a clear Friday, the Czech Republic will see cloudy, rainy weather over the weekend, with temperatures rising to 17 °C, the Czech Hydrometeorological Institute (ČHMÚ) said. Friday morning may bring fog and freezing lows near –1 °C. “Afternoon temperatures will usually not exceed 15 °C,” meteorologists wrote on Facebook, forecasting gradual weekend warming. Fog and low-inversion clouds will become more frequent next week, though temperatures will continue to be firmly in the double digits. 

The National Identity Authority (NIA) system, used for eDoklady and the Transport Portal, is operational again after a 12-hour outage. Problems began Wednesday afternoon and were partly linked to a Microsoft Azure failure. “Everything worked around 01:00, the issue should be resolved,” said Jakub Palata from the Digital Information Agency. Online logins are now restored.

The EU is seeking compromise on its 2040 climate target after opposition from Czechia, France, Italy, and Poland to a 90 percent emissions cut. Denmark is leading talks on possible flexibility, allowing limited use of international carbon credits. Politico reports the bloc may review progress every two years and adjust targets based on competitiveness.