The Today Radio News team brings you the latest news headlines for Monday, 8 January.
Luxembourg & Greater Region
FARMERS' DEMO - Farmers are demonstrating across Germany today, in protest against planned austerity measures. They will also take to the streets just across the Luxembourg border. The whole city of Trier will be affected by a blockade today. According to the city, numerous motorway slip roads in Trier and surrounding areas will be closed. Agricultural vehicles are already driving down the A64 motorway in the direction of Luxembourg at walking speed. The protest is likely to grow larger than reports initially anticipated. Instead of the 500 tractors originally planned, the farmers' and winegrowers' association is now expecting 1,000 vehicles.
FRIEDEN GERMANY - Luxembourg's Prime Minister Luc Frieden is in Berlin today to meet German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to talk about bilateral relations. And about European, international and economic current affairs.
BETTEL ISRAEL - Foreign Minister Xavier Bettel is traveling today for his first official visit to Israel. He will meet his counterpart Israel Katz. The main topic is of course the war in the Gaza Strip. In the run-up to the meeting, Bettel already emphasized that the talks would not be about taking sides, but to work for peace. In addition, he believes the civilian population in the conflict should be better protected.
World
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR - The US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is also set to arrive in Israel later today, focusing on preventing the regional escalation of Israel’s war in Gaza. His visit comes against a background of the deepening conflict in the territory.
Three international health organisations have said they have been forced to leave their activities in the last functioning hospital in central Gaza, after the Israeli military designated the area around the Al-Aqsa facility a conflict zone.
MICHEL RESIGNATION - Belgian politician Charles Michel has announced he will step down as European Council president after running in the European Parliament elections set for June.The surprise move will heighten speculation about who will be the next EU leaders as negotiations begin for a new round of top jobs in November.
BREIVIK COURT - Anders Breivik, infamous for the 2011 massacre in Norway is expected in court today. He is demanding to be released from solitary confinement. According to his lawyer, his inhumane prison isolation is against human rights. Breivik killed a total of 77 people in 2011 and was sentenced to 21 years in prison.
MOON LANDING - The first American spacecraft to attempt to land on the Moon in more than half a century is poised to blast off today. A brand new rocket, United Launch Alliance's Vulcan Centaur, should lift off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 2:18 am (0718 GMT) for its maiden voyage, carrying Astrobotic's Peregrine Lunar Lander. If all goes to plan, Peregrine will touch down on the Moon on February 23.
GOLDEN GLOBES - The atomic bomb drama "Oppenheimer" was among the big winners at the Golden Globe Awards in Los Angeles, with the film's lead Cilian Murphy awarded "Best Drama Film Actor", Robert Downey Junior taking "Best Supporting Actor" and "Best Director" for Christopher Nolan. Barbie won the new award "Best Cinematic and box office achievement".
Sport
FOOTBALL - Liverpool beat Arsenal 2-0 in the English FA Cup.
And in the French Cup, Monaco has won 6-5, after a penalty shootout, against Lens.
AMERICAN FOOTBALL - The Green Bay Packers, four-times Super Bowl winners, grabbed a place in the NFL playoffs on the final day of the regular season after a 17-9 victory over the Chicago Bears on Sunday.The Packers' win has secured them the last available wildcard spot in the NFC. The other NFC wildcard game will see Tampa Bay host the Philadelphia Eagles after three field goals from Chase McLaughlin sealed a dour 9-0 win for Tampa Bay. As the Bucs celebrated, the Jacksonville Jaguars were eliminated after a 28-20 defeat to Tennessee that completed a miserable late season collapse.
SAILING - Six sailors set out on the 40,000km around-the-world Ultim Challenge from France on Sunday, hoping to complete one of the sport's "biggest challenges". The first such race set off from Brest on super-powerful but relatively fragile tri-marans. The fastest could take around 50 days to complete the 21,600 nautical miles of this race, rounding the Cape of Good Hope, Cape Leeuwin, and Cape Horn in the process.
Weather
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