RTL Today - Your Weekly Recap: Soaring rents, no TikTok ban in Luxembourg, and minimum wage surpasses €3,000

Your Weekly Recap for 27 - 31 March.

Here's 5 things you should know about at the end of this week:

Rents are soaring on Luxembourg's housing market
Luxembourg is not yet banning TikTok on government devices
With the new indexation, the minimum wage will surpass the €3,000 mark
Russia's invasion exposed the West's 'double standards' towards human rights abuses
Trump is the first US president to face criminal charges

Important as well: Here's what will change on 1 April

5 things you should know

@rtl.today Top Five Stories in Luxembourg this week: 1. Rents in Luxembourg are soaring 2. No TikTok bans for Luxembourg government officials 3. New minimum wage standards 4. West’s Double Standard for Russia 5. Trump becomes first US President to be indicted #luxembourgnews #weeklyrecap #luxembourg🇱🇺 #luxembourgtiktok #news ♬ original sound - RTL Today Radio Luxembourg

1. Rents are soaring on Luxembourg's housing market

A strong decrease of activities in the construction sector due to rising interest rates is now affecting rental prices.
To prevent the situation from becoming even more complicated, Jean-Nicolas Montrieux, CEO of Inowai Group, believes that construction efforts must be relaunched by encouraging investment through tax incentives.
The Chamber of Trades fears that business in the construction sector is collapsing and that numerous companies are therefore at risk of facing bankruptcy.

Diminished purchasing power - With interest rates and sales prices continuing their upward trend and buyers seeing their purchasing power diminish, many residents have no choice but to turn to renting despite soaring prices or even moving across the border.

Housing market in 'free fall' - Luxembourgish developers have sounded the alarm about the construction sector, warning that "political decision-makers are not aware" of the urgency of the situation.

Compared to the fourth quarter of 2021, activities have decreased by 48%. According to the Federation of Craftspeople, half of all construction companies still have work for the next three months, but after that no more projects are planned.

Normally 3,500 houses are built per year in Luxembourg. This year there will only be 2,000.

Most concerning increase - It is on the rent front that figures are most concerning. According to the Observatory, rents have risen by 8% over the last twelve months "with a particular increase of 2.1% in the fourth quarter alone". This increase exceeds the one observed on the sales market (+5.6%), but also that of consumer prices (+6%).

2. Luxembourg is not yet banning TikTok on government devices

After the US, the European institutions have banned the download and use of the social network TikTok on the work devices of their staff.
For the time being, Luxembourg will not follow the EU's lead.
Minister for Digitalisation Xavier Bettel said that "the government continues to closely follow the reflections and concerns about data security regarding the TikTok app."

Still cautious - Bettel went on to say that the Grand Duchy has joined other Member States in requesting additional information from the European Commission.

"I don't ban TikTok just because it's Chinese. But if I have evidence that something is wrong, I will ban it," said Bettel during last week's EU summit.

What's happening? - TikTok, whose parent company ByteDance is Chinese, has faced increasing Western scrutiny in recent months over fears about how much access Beijing has to user data. In November, the company admitted some staff in China can access the data of European users.

The ban means European Commission staff cannot use the video-sharing app on work devices and personal devices, such as phones, that have official EU email and communication apps installed.

The United States banned the app from federal government devices last year, and some US lawmakers are trying to prohibit TikTok from operating in the United States.

TikTok is disappointed - A spokesperson for TikTok said that they "believe this suspension is misguided and based on fundamental misconceptions".

Since then TikTok stressed it protects the data of 125 million users monthly in the European Union on its app and was taking steps to strengthen data security, as well as building data storage centres in Europe.

In the past - The European Union has taken a tough line on technology companies, passing two major laws to make sure social media platforms adhere to the bloc's rules on digital issues.

"As an institution, the European Commission has, from the beginning of the mandate, a very strong focus on cybersecurity, protecting our colleagues and, of course, everyone who is working here in the Commission," EU industry commissioner Thierry Breton told reporters.

3. With the new indexation, the minimum wage will surpass €3,000 mark

On 1 April, the wage indexation that was deferred during the first tripartite in 2022 takes effect.
With this wage indexation, the social minimum wage will once again rise by 2.5%.
The difference on employees' wages however might be limited. Since the postponement of the indexation from July 2022 to 1 April this year, an energy tax credit has been applied to all salaries, which is bound to disappear after 31 March.

Minimum wages - The monthly qualified minimum wage will pass the €3,000 mark in April, reaching €3,009.88. The non-qualified minimum wage for those over 18 years of age increases to €2,508 gross per month.

Over the years - In ten years, the Luxembourg minimum wage has increased by several hundred euros per month. In January 2013, it was set at €1,874.19 gross for an unskilled worker and €2,249.03 gross for a skilled worker.

End of 2024 - Following this wage indexation in April 2023, STATEC expects the next indexation to be triggered in Q4 2023, with a further indexation forecast for Q4 2024.

4. Russia's invasion exposed the West's 'double standards' towards human rights abuses

Global outrage over Russia's invasion of Ukraine last year has only served to expose the West's "double standards" towards human rights abuses throughout the world, Amnesty International said on Tuesday.
In an annual report, Amnesty pointed to what it described as the West's silence on Saudi Arabia's rights record, repression in Egypt and Israel's treatment of the Palestinians.
The conflict highlighted shortcomings in responding to abuses in other parts of the globe.

Inconsequential actions - "The West's formidable response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine underscored double standards, exposing in comparison how inconsequential their reactions have been to so many other violations of the UN Charter," said Amnesty secretary general Agnes Callamard as she presented the group's world report in Paris.

Imposing sanctions, opening borders - Russia's assault that began on February 24, 2022 "gave us an all too rare view of what becomes possible when there is political will to act" as the West closed ranks to support Ukraine.

The example of Israel - Amnesty, fellow rights watchdog Human Rights Watch and a UN special rapporteur have concluded that Israel's treatment of Palestinians amounts to policies of apartheid, the segregation of black people and whites in white-ruled South Africa, a charge the Israeli state denies.

Last year, "successive Israeli governments rolled out measures forcing more Palestinians from their homes, expanding illegal settlements, and legalising existing settlements and outposts across the occupied West Bank," Amnesty said.

But despite this -- and Israeli forces killing Palestinians in the occupied West Bank -- Western nations failed to demand an end to that "system of oppression", it said.

Not the same - Although European countries welcomed Ukrainian refugees, they did not show the same kindness to people fleeing fighting in Syria, Afghanistan and Libya, Amnesty said.

Not just the West - Amnesty stressed the failure of global institutions "to respond adequately to conflicts killing thousands of people including in Ethiopia, Myanmar and Yemen".

5. Trump is the first US president to face criminal charges

A New York grand jury on Thursday indicted Donald Trump over hush money payments made to a porn star during his 2016 campaign, making him the first former US president to face criminal charges.
The historic indictment of the 76-year-old Republican is certain to upend the current presidential race in which Trump hopes to regain office.
Trump slammed the indictment as "political persecution and election interference," raging against prosecutors and his Democratic opponents and vowing that it would backfire on his successor, President Joe Biden.

Legacy - Trump already survived two impeachments and kept prosecutors at bay over everything from the US Capitol riot to missing classified files -- only to land in court over a sex scandal involving Stormy Daniels, a 44-year-old adult movie actress.

Calling for protests - On March 18, Trump had already declared he expected to be arrested within days over the payment to Daniels -- who received $130,000 weeks before the election that brought Trump to power, to stop her from going public about a tryst she claims they had a decade earlier.

Arrest - Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office confirmed that it had contacted Trump's lawyers Thursday evening to "coordinate his surrender" in New York -- with the felony charges against him to be revealed at that point.

Undying support - In the Republican camp, Trump's allies and sons denounced what they say is a vendetta aimed at derailing his 2024 campaign -- while his expected challenger for the party nomination, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, slammed the indictment as "un-American."

Kevin McCarthy, the top Republican in the House of Representatives, said the indictment had "irreparably damaged" the country. Trump's former vice president and possible 2024 challenger Mike Pence called it an "outrage" that would only "further serve to divide" the United States.

What about the 2024 bid? - The historic indictment of Donald Trump is a seismic moment for the 2024 US presidential campaign, but it is impossible to predict whether the political earthquake will cause lasting damage or settle in his favor. Read more here.

The best of.. 📚

Business & Tech - The European Union approved on Monday a deal that will lead to the phaseout of sales of new fossil fuel cars by 2035, with a final green light by energy ministers due on Tuesday.
Science & Environment- The European Court of Human Rights heard cases against France and Switzerland over alleged failings to protect the environment Wednesday, the first time governments are in the court's dock for alleged climate change inaction.
Entertainment - Amsterdam launched a campaign on Tuesday to discourage tourists planning drug- and alcohol-fuelled parties -- starting with young British men.
Sport- Luxembourg's men's national team kicked off their European Championship qualifying campaign last week. A heroic 0-0 draw in Slovakia was followed by a disheartening 6-0 thrashing by frequent opponents Portugal. Is there a the possibility of making the first major tournament in the country's history?

And in case you missed it ⚠️

Health care sector - The Chamber's health commission discussed ways of improving healthcare in northern Luxembourg on Monday, focusing particularly on the much-lamented absence of a paediatric emergency unit.
Inhumane behaviour? - The Luxembourg City municipal council recently voted in favour of adjusting police regulations on begging to make it illegal in the City centre, Gare, and Bonnevoie between 7am and 10pm.
'Stronger for Scotland' - Humza Yousaf on Monday won the race to become Scotland's new leader, the youngest and first from a minority ethnic background, charged with reviving a faltering independence movement after Nicola Sturgeon's long tenure.
Important relationship - Britain's Charles III addressed the German parliament on Thursday - in German, becoming the first monarch to do so, on the occasion of his inaugural state visit as king.

Your Weekly Recap is published every Friday at noon. Read earlier versions.

If you have any comments, questions, concerns on improving the Weekly Recap - contact me at alannah_meyrath@rtltoday.lu