SCHUEBERFOUER PREPARATIONS - with less than 20 days to go, anticipation of this year’s Schueberfouer continues to build. Extensive preparations are underway, as the Glacis transforms from a car park to a fair spanning 4.5 hectares. This week marks the start of the ‘hot’ phase of construction, with no less than 205 installations and establishments ready to be built. The Schueberfouer starts on August 23. This year, organisers expect to welcome a staggering 1.5 to 2 million visitors over the fair’s 20-day duration, averaging between 80,000 and 100,000 attendees each day.
SLOVENIA FLOODING - At least three people have died as a result of heavy rain and flooding in Slovenia. The country’s prime minister, Robert Golob said the devastating weather is the country’s worst-ever natural disaster, causing hundreds of millions of dollars worth of damage. His government yesterday evening requested technical assistance from the EU, as well as NATO. There is now a high risk of avalanches and mudslides and at least 6 villages in the mountain regions are cut off from the outside world. Rescuers are trying to reach flooded areas and clean up the damage.
PORTUGAL FIRES - More than 1000 firefighters are battling a wildfire in central Portugal that has destroyed 7000 hectares of land and slightly injured 11 people. Temperatures were above 40 degrees Celsius on Sunday and authorities said wildfire risks would remain “very high or at maximum level across the entire country” over the coming days.
NIGER COUP - Niger’s coup leaders have closed the country’s airspace until further notice, citing the threat of military intervention from their neighbours. The West African group of countries, ECOWAS, warned it could use force if President Mohamed Bazoum was not reinstated by 2300 gmt on Sunday. That deadline has passed. The military takeover has been internationally condemned, including former colonial power France and the rest of the EU, as well as the United Nations and US.
MIGRANT RESCUES - At least 30 migrants are missing following two shipwrecks off the Italian island of Lampedusa, according to survivor testimony, as rescuers on Sunday winched to safety 34 others stranded on the rocks by rough seas. Italy’s coastguard said it had saved 57 survivors and recovered the body of a woman and a child. It released dramatic footage on Sunday of the rescues, in which people could be seen carried high on the crests of vast waves, while a coastguard vessel soared and plunged nearby.
BARBIE RECORD - The Barbie movie has topped 1 billion dollars in global box office sales, with director Greta Gerwig breaking a record for female directors. Just a few weeks after it hit the cinemas, Barbie crossed the billion dollar mark faster than any other film from the Warner Bros studio. Barbie ticket sales now rank second this year to the Super Mario Bros, which raked in a total of close to 1.4 billion dollars. Directed by Oscar-nominated writer and director Gerwig and starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling as Barbie and Ken, the movie sends the famous toy doll on an adventure into the real world.
FOOTBALL - in the Women’s World Cup, two quarter final matches are taking place today. England take on Nigeria in the morning and the Australian women face Denmark later today.
CYCLING – Mathieu van der Poel has won the men’s road race world championship in Glasgow with a late solo escape, hailing his victory as “revenge” for his controversial absence from the 2022 event. At last year’s world championships in Australia, the Dutch cyclist was unable to compete after being arrested following a confrontation with two teenage girls who he claimed had repeatedly knocked on his hotel door and ran away. Belgian Wout van Aert was second, 1min 37sec behind, with two-time Tour de France champion Tadej Pogacar of Slovenia in third place.
ATHLETICS - at the World University Games in Chengdu, China, there was a silver medal for Luxembourg after Patrizia van der Weken’s gold medal in the 100 meters in athletics. Vera Hoffmann came second in the 1500 meters yesterday morning, behind the Italian Laura Pellicoro. It was a relatively slow and tactical race. Vera Hoffmann’s national record is 4 minutes, 6 seconds and 94 hundredths. Yesterday she was almost 10 seconds slower.
MOTO GP - In motorcycle racing, Spain’s Alex Espargaro won the British Grand Prix at Silverstone yesterday, ahead of world champion Francesco Bagnaia, who extended his lead in the riders’ standings to 41 points.
It looks like we will have yet another grey Monday, but the good news is that the rain appears to be slowly getting tired of us and we should see a little bit of sunshine peeking out from behind the clouds in the morning. Temperatures are still not very summery, ranging from a minimum of 9 degrees Celsius all the way to an amazing 18 degrees.
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