US Election Day, Christophe Hansen to become EU Agriculture Commissioner, and critical report on schools

Luxembourg 

EU COMMISSIONER - Christophe Hansen, Luxembourg’s nominee for European commissioner has been given the green light in the European Parliament to become the EU commissioner for Agriculture and Food. This was unofficially announced yesterday evening. Officially the European Parliament waits for an announcement until all 26 designated commissioners have been approved.

SCHOOL REPORT - A new report by the National Observatory of Children, Youth and School Quality (OEJQS) aims to narrow down the continued weaknesses in the Luxembourgish school system. Long standing issues include inequalities faced by children from disadvantaged backgrounds and the continuation of forcing pupils to repeat the year in primary schools. The report notes that this practice not only breaches the law but also has lasting negative effects on pupils, who often perceive repeating a year as a form of punishment.

JUNCKER US ELECTION - In an interview with AFP, the Former Luxembourg PM and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said that Europe is "mature" and should not be "timid" in its relationship with the United States regardless of the outcome of the American presidential election. Juncker, who met Trump multiple times between 2016 and 2020 stresses the need to approach the potential return of Donald Trump to the White House with "calm".

WAGE INDEXATION - Statec’s newly appointed director, Tom Haas has confirmed that no new index will be issued until 2025. Haas told RTL that the latest inflation figures, due on Wednesday, will likely confirm predictions made a month ago.

World

US ELECTIONS - Election Day is finally here after one of the most tumultuous US campaigns in memory, which featured two assassination attempts (against Donald Trump), one candidate being convicted of a crime (Trump again) and a sitting president (Joe Biden) folding his re-election bid just two months before the vote. Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris are wrapping up their last rallies of an exhausting final week today.  As Americans head to the polls in this closely watched election, our live ticker will keep you up to date on the latest developments, from voter turnout to early projections and key battleground updates. Stay tuned to RTL Today for real-time updates.

NORTH KOREA MISSILES - North Korea has fired a salvo of short-range ballistic missiles earlier today, Pyongyang's second launch in days and just hours before Americans vote for a new president. The test also came just hours after the United States and South Korea asked North Korea to withdraw its troops from Russia. North Korea stands accused of sending soldiers to help Russia fight Ukraine.

SPAIN FLOODS - Thousands of rescuers pumped water from submerged buildings, churned through muddy streets and cleared debris on Monday as Spain braced for more deaths from its worst floods in decades.The toll stands at 218 dead -and could spike in the coming days as an unknown number of people remain missing. Divers are concentrating their search for missing bodies in garages and a multi-storey car park in the town of Aldaia.

MIDDLE EAST CONFLICT - Ceasefire negotiations in the Middle east are stuck and the violence continues. The Lebanese Hezbollah militia is said to have fired about 90 rockets at the north of Israel yesterday. Most were intercepted. Israel then bombed Hezbollah positions in Lebanon. There were injuries on both sides. Meanwhile, the United States is demanding more humanitarian aid for the Gaza Strip, where the humanitarian situation of the Palestinian population  is catastrophic.

Sport

FOOTBALL - It is the start of the 4th matchday in the league phase in the Champions League. Games include Liverpool against Leverkusen, Real Madrid against AC Milan, Dortmund against Graz, Lille against Juventus and Sporting takes on Manchester City.
 
GOLF - World number one Nelly Korda has clinched her first LPGA Player of the Year honors, after it became mathematically impossible for anyone to catch her for the points-based award.In an already historic 2024 campaign America's Korda has six victories and three additional top-10 finishes.

TENNIS - American Taylor Fritz became the fifth player to book his spot in the eight-man ATP Finals in Turin after last week's Paris Masters. Fritz joins already-qualified Jannik Sinner, Alexander Zverev, Carlos Alcaraz and Daniil Medvedev for the event in northern Italy from November 10-17. Novak Djokovic missed the Paris Masters but remains in the running.

Weather

As we have come to expect, the day starts off enveloped in a layer of fog and mist, which will disappear at the day goes on. In the afternoon, that familiar cloud cover sets but we might just catch some occasional glimpses of the sun, especially in the north of the country.

Temperature-wise, it’s a cold start around 5°C, moving up to 10-12°C in the afternoon.

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