The Today Radio news team brings you the latest headlines for Thursday, 25 July.

Luxembourg 

GOVERNMENT BRIEFING – Prime Minister Luc Frieden held a press briefing yesterday afternoon to discuss the outcomes of the latest Government Council meeting, which was the last before the summer holidays. Frieden announced that Luxembourg would comply with Ursula von der Leyen's request to propose both a male and a female candidate for the EU Commissioner position. In other news, Frieden announced a staff reshuffle at the Maison du Grand-Duc. The goal is to allow Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume, who will be sworn in as Lieutenant-Representative of the Grand Duke in October, to form a team of his choosing.

FUEL PRICES – Following last week's drops, fuel prices in the Grand Duchy have again been lowered overnight. With a drop of 1.8 cents, the price of a liter of diesel will be displayed at €1.47. Motorists driving unleaded SP95 petrol will also have a nice surprise, as the petrol price has dropped by 1.2 cents, with a liter priced at €1,56. SP98 remains unchanged.

CONTROVERSIAL PETITION –  A new petition demanding the exclusion of LGBTQIA+ topics from school curricula in Luxembourg continues sparking significant controversy and backlash, with organisations like Rosa Lëtzebuerg and CIGALE condemning the move and emphasising the importance of diverse education. The petition, which went online only last Saturday, argues that LGBTQIA+ topics should be entirely removed from school education aimed at minors. It has already gathered over 5,200 signatures, surpassing the 4,500-signature threshold needed to prompt a public debate in the Chamber of Deputies.

BEACHES ALGAE – And the Water Management Authority has lifted the blue-green algae warning for the Rommwiss and Buerfelt beaches on the Upper Sure lake, allowing swimming to resume in these areas. Last week, cyanobacteria, commonly known as blue-green algae, were detected near these beaches. However, the authority reported on Wednesday evening that the algae have now dissipated.

World

US ELECTION – President Biden has told Americans that nothing should come in the way of saving democracy, including personal ambition. Explaining his decision not to seek re-election in a televised address from the Oval Office, Biden said the best way forward was to pass the torch to a new generation. Donald Trump has strongly criticised Kamala Harris in his first campaign rally since she became the presumptive Democratic Party nominee for November’s presidential election. The Republican candidate said she was incompetent and had radical views on gun control and abortion.

US NETANYAHU –  Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has told the joint session of the US Congress that Israel will have total victory over Hamas in Gaza. He insisted that Israel would retain security control over the Palestinian territory after the war.

GERMANY SCHOLZ – German Chancellor Olaf Scholz wants to remain Chancellor beyond 2025. He announced that he will run for a second term in the next Bundestag elections during the traditional summer press conference in Berlin yesterday. The elections will be held in September 2025.

BOEING FINE –  Boeing has agreed to plead guilty to fraud and pay over $240 million in fines as part of a deal with the US Department of Justice over two fatal 737 MAX crashes. The agreement comes after prosecutors concluded Boeing flouted an earlier settlement addressing the disasters, in which a total of 346 people were killed in Ethiopia and Indonesia more than five years ago.

Sport

OLYMPICS 2024 – The sporting programme at the Paris Olympics endured a chaotic start yesterday as men's football kicked off while a huge police operation was put in place for Israel's first appearance at the Games. Two days before the opening ceremony, Morocco beat Argentina 2-1 in Saint-Etienne, but only after a late equaliser for the South American side was disallowed and the final minutes were played out in an empty stadium following crowd trouble. Israel's footballers later took on Mali under the watchful eye of 1,000 police officers, with authorities erecting an "anti-terrorist perimeter" and braced for possible disruption around the stadium. The result was a 1-1 draw.

There are 13 Luxembourgish athletes representing the Grand Duchy in the French capital. The opening ceremony is on Friday, but for one Luxembourg athlete, the competition already starts today. Pit Klein is taking part in the archery qualification this afternoon. The Luxembourg champion has not set himself a specific goal for the Olympic Games, but he wants to get the most out of it and knows that anything is possible in Paris.

And Antoine Dupont received a rapturous welcome from a raucous Stade de France crowd yesterday, scoring a vital try to help the French team qualify for the quarter-finals of Olympics rugby sevens. Dupont played 12 minutes of the opening 12-12 Pool C draw against the US, the Americans scoring the equalising try after he had been subbed off. Dupont again started the second match and crossed for a memorable five-pointer in the hard-fought 19-12 victory over Uruguay, who lost their opener 40-12 to Fiji.

FOOTBALL – Two Luxembourg teams are taking on 2 Swedish teams in the football Conference League today. F91 Dudelange plays BK Häcken from Gothenburg at home and Progrès Niederkorn takes on Djurgardens IF. The return matches are next week.

Weather

The day promises to be relatively sunny, despite the presence of clouds here and there. There should be no rain to be seen throughout the morning and afternoon, but we could be visited by a couple naughty rainclouds late in the evening.
In the morning, expect around 13– 15°C, going up to 23– 25°C in the afternoon.

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