Here are five things you should know at the end of this week:
Ministers from the coalition government jointly presented a range of initiatives on Tuesday aimed at providing support to the struggling construction industry.
A bit of background - Since last year, Luxembourg’s construction sector has been alarmed by a continuously decreasing sales rate for newly developed projects and fear that the situation might worsen.
In December 2022, the Artisan Federation and the Chamber of Skilled Trades and Crafts therefore demanded temporary yet urgent countermeasures from the country’s leading politicians to stimulate housing investments in 2023.
As sectorial representatives continued sounding the alarm towards the beginning of 2023, it has since been estimated that 2,300 accommodations will be built this year, 1,500 fewer than projected.
Rising tensions - The Independent Luxembourg Trade Union Confederation (OGBL) and the Luxembourg Confederation of Christian Trade Unions (LCGB) recently held a joint press conference to address the ongoing negotiations concerning a new collective agreement within the construction sector.
Representatives from the trade unions expressed their dissatisfaction and alleged that employers had made concerted efforts to conceal their lack of substantial proposals.
Approximately 20,000 employees within the construction industry are affected by these negotiations, which have since been in a deadlock.
Overview of measures - An investment of €1.4 million from the European Social Fund will be dedicated to training programmes, enabling employees to acquire skills in the installation and maintenance of new technologies, such as heat pumps and photovoltaic systems.
Meanwhile, municipalities will receive an extra budget of €25 million to facilitate the energy renovation of their buildings, including special subsidies for youth centres and daycares.
In addition, financial aid for companies seeking to enhance the energy efficiency of their premises through renovation and modernisation will be increased.
The upper limit for a state guarantee on real estate loans will be raised from the current level of around €157,000 to €278,000. Also, first-time buyers of flats will be eligible for a short-term compensatory allowance of €20,000.
These proposed changes are pending review by the Council of State. However, it is expected that the legislative project will be voted on before the upcoming elections. The government estimates the total value of the announced package of measures to be around €150 million.
MP Roy Reding from the Alternative Democratic Reform Party (ADR) has been acquitted of all charges of fraud after appealing the initial verdict issued in April.
The original ruling had resulted in a one-year suspended prison sentence and a fine of €50,000.
The public prosecutor’s office had initially accused him of concealing the need to reconvert a flat into a basement room in a residential building he sold in Kirchberg in 2016.
The charges - The MP stood accused of concealing vital information during the sale of an apartment building in Kirchberg. Reding had failed to make buyers aware that a basement apartment on the property was not fit for habitation.
A court decision in 2014 had determined that renting out the converted basement room as a separate flat was illegal. The living space, created between 2009 and 2010, failed to meet building regulations, including the minimum ceiling height requirement.
Although the 2015 appeal process had upheld this court decision, Reding sold the property a year later instead of complying with the demolition order.
First instance ruling - In late 2022, MP Reding was sentenced to a suspended one-year prison sentence and a €50,000 fine for fraud.
However, he insisted that he had “nothing to hide” and it did not take long after the verdict before the ADR politician voiced his intention of appealing the ruling on Twitter.
Successful appeal - The judges presiding over the appeal case, which concluded earlier this week, unanimously cleared Reding of all counts, overturning the previous first-instance judgement.
During the second-instance proceedings held in April, it was once again a matter of testimony against testimony.
On Thursday evening, the traditional torch-lit procession saw participants follow a 650-meter-long route, beginning in the vibrant Grand-Rue and passing through the renowned Place Guillaume II.
The fireworks display, launched from the iconic Adolphe bridge later that evening, lasted about 17 minutes and was accompanied by the talented musicians of the Luxembourg City Conservatoire.
On National Day, celebrations include the military parade on Avenue de la Liberté at noon and the Te Deum at Notre Dame Cathedral in Luxembourg City at 4.30pm.
Eagerly awaited - The Grand Duchy’s National Day, otherwise known as the Grand Duke’s Official Birthday, is one of the most exciting days in the Luxembourg calendar, complete with a military parade, fireworks, and a bank holiday.
This year, residents will enjoy an extended weekend with the bank holiday conveniently falling on a Friday.
National Eve - Braving the less than ideal weather conditions, people gathered around the city to join the torch parade and enjoy fireworks and free concerts. See all of our galleries of Thursday’s festivities here.
National Day - On Friday, the programme kicks off at 10am with an official ceremony at the Philharmonie, followed by a 21-gun salute in honour of the Grand Duke at Fetschenhof at 11am.
The traditional presentation of arms and military parade will then take place on Avenue de la Liberté from noon onwards. The Te Deum will be held at Notre Dame Cathedral in Luxembourg City at 4.30pm. Members of the grand ducal family and the government are expected to attend both events as per tradition. You can watch the main events live on RTL Today’s stream.
‘City sounds’ - As part of its ‘City Sounds’ series, the municipality of Luxembourg City has also organised a number of free live concerts on Glacis square on both National Day and the evening preceding the actual holiday.
The line-up includes major local and international acts, such as LOST FREQUENCIES, WADE, and Flavour Trip on Thursday, and Ice In My Eyes, Francis of Delirium, The Script, and The 1975 on Friday (doors at 5pm).
The massive search and rescue effort for a missing submersible near the wreck of the Titanic reached a critical stage as oxygen supplies for the five people aboard was expected to run out on Thursday.
The tourist sub, named Titan, began its descent at 8am on Sunday and had been due to resurface seven hours later, according to the US Coast Guard.
Late on Thursday, debris of the sub was discovered at the bottom of the ocean and officials concluded that a catastrophic implosion had killed all five passengers.
96 hours - A search mission was carried out all week after a submarine transporting tourists to the wreck of the Titanic went missing on Monday.
Time was a critical factor as the vessel was estimated to have a range of 96 hours for the crew of five since its initial descent.
Search operation - Ships and planes scoured 20,000 square kilometres of surface water- roughly the size of the US state of Massachusetts - for the vessel, which attempted to dive about 400 miles off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada.
After noises were detected by a Canadian P-3 aircraft on Wednesday, rescuers relocated two remotely operated vehicles (ROV) that search under the water and one surface vessel with sonar capability.
“There have been multiple reports of noises and every one of those noises is being analyzed,” said Carl Hartsfield from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. He added that the sounds were described as “banging noises.”
Five people aboard - At the time of its disappearance, Titan was carrying British billionaire Hamish Harding and Pakistani tycoon Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman, who also have British citizenship.
Also on board was OceanGate founder and CEO Stockton Rush as well as the French submarine operator Paul-Henri Nargeolet, nicknamed “Mr Titanic” for his frequent dives at the site.
‘Catastrophic implosion’ - After debris of the vessel was discovered on Thursday, it was concluded that all five people aboard had been killed - likely in an instant - after their vessel suffered what the US Coast Guard described as a “catastrophic implosion” in the ocean depths.
Rear Admiral John Mauger told reporters in Boston that analysis showed debris found on the seafloor, 500 meters from the bow of the Titanic, was consistent with the implosion of the sub’s pressure chamber.
The somber announcement ended a multinational search-and-rescue operation that captivated the world since the tiny tourist craft went missing in the North Atlantic four days ago.
Tourist attraction - The iconic Titanic hit an iceberg and sank in 1912 during its maiden voyage from England to New York with 2,224 passengers and crew aboard. More than 1,500 people died.
The wreck was found in 1985 and remains a lure for nautical experts and underwater tourists, including the five people on board of the missing submersible.
Operator OceanGate Expeditions charges $250,000 for a seat on the sub.
A blast occurred on Wednesday afternoon in Paris’ fifth arrondissement, close to the Luxembourg Gardens and at the edge of the Latin Quarter, a top tourism area in the French capital.
Prosecutors said around 50 people were injured in the explosion, potentially caused by a gas leak, and subsequent building collapse on Rue Saint Jacques.
One person was still missing on Thursday while six others were in critical condition receiving urgent treatment in hospital as rescuers sifted through wreckage.
What happened? - The initial blast was followed by a major fire which caused one building, housing a fashion school, as well as an adjacent building to collapse, emergency services said.
Some 70 fire trucks and 230 firefighters were battling the blaze which was contained by early Wednesday evening. Nine doctors were also at the scene.
Windows as far as 400 metres away were shattered, AFP reporters said. “It was terrible. I thought it was an earthquake. Everything shook,” Violeta Garesteaw, a caretaker in a nearby building, told AFP on Thursday after sweeping up glass in the courtyard.
Firefighters “prevented the spread of the fire to two adjoining buildings which were seriously destabilised by the explosion” and “were evacuated”, stated Paris police chief Laurent Nunez Nunez.
One still missing - Among two people who were being sought in the rubble, it eventually turned out that one had already been admitted to hospital,” the prosecutor’s office said on Thursday.
“The search continues for the second,” it added, cautioning: “These figures could still change.”
Business & Tech - Australia’s internet safety watchdog on Thursday threatened to fine Twitter for failing to tackle online abuse, saying Elon Musk’s takeover had coincided with a spike in “toxicity and hate”.
Science & Environment - The Summit for a New Global Financial Pact, which is aimed at finding the financial solutions to the interlinked global problems of poverty, planet-heating emissions, and environmental threats, kicked off in Paris on Thursday.
Entertainment - The iconic Glastonbury Festival opened its doors on Wednesday, with 200,000 music fans expected to see acts including Arctic Monkeys, Guns ‘n’ Roses and Elton John.
Euro 2024 qualifier - Luxembourg beat Bosnia & Herzegovina 2-0 on Tuesday, making it seven points from four games in Group J for the Red Lions.
Unwanted top spot - A 2022 Eurostat report reveals that Luxembourg recorded one of the highest price levels for household final consumption expenditure across the European Union.
Your Weekly Recap is published every Friday at noon. Read earlier versions.
