The Today Radio news team brings you the latest headlines for Thursday, 12 December.

Luxembourg

POLITMONITOR SURVEY – Housing remains the primary concern for Luxembourg's residents, according to the second part of the Politmonitor survey conducted for RTL and the Lëtzebuerger Wort. Close behind housing, 65% of respondents expressed concern about the world becoming "increasingly more dangerous". Tied in third and fourth place are concerns about the rise of right-wing extremism and the effects of climate change.

PARLIAMENT DEBATE – Housing and cross-border challenges were being debated in Luxembourg's parliament yesterday. Franz Fayot, an MP from the Luxembourg Socialist Workers' Party (LSAP), initiated a debate on whether Luxembourg should increase its financial support for neighbouring countries. Several MPs highlighted concerns about a declining interest in working in Luxembourg due to challenges such as limited teleworking options, transportation issues, housing shortages, and overtime regulations. The Minister for Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Xavier Bettel, rejected the claim that Luxembourg exploits its neighbours and dismissed calls for financial handouts to enhance Luxembourg's appeal.

GENDER EQUALITY – Luxembourg ranks seventh on the Gender Equality Index for the EU. It is an improvement to last year, with the index measuring gender equality in six domains: power, knowledge, work, health, money, and time. The difference in salaries has become smaller and more women are active in politics on a local level, but less so nationally. Sweden ranked the highest, followed by Denmark and the Netherlands.

HOUSE DAMAGE – A powerful air vortex, likely caused by a landing cargo plane, tore tiles from a roof in Hamm yesterday morning, hurling debris into the street near two day-care centres and prompting an investigation by aviation authorities. No children were outside at the time of the incident and no injuries were reported.

CHRISTMAS CARD SCAM – The municipality of Steinsel has warned residents about fraudulent Christmas cards falsely claiming to be from the local waste-management service, soliciting end-of-year donations. Steinsel officials shared that the cards' envelopes originate from France.

World

UN GAZA CEASEFIRE – The UN General Assembly has overwhelmingly adopted a resolution calling for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire in Gaza, a symbolic gesture rejected by the United States and Israel. The resolution – adopted by a vote of 158-9, with 13 abstentions – is non-binding but carries political weight, reflecting a global view on the war.

EU INTERIOR MINISTERS – EU interior ministers are meeting in Brussels today to discuss current migration issues. In particular, the future handling of Syrian refugees and their protection status after the Assad regime in Damascus was overthrown. Many countries, including Luxembourg, have put asylum procedures on hold. Minister for Home Affairs Léon Gloden and his colleagues also want to include Bulgaria and Romania fully in the Schengen area. This would mean that border checks would be abolished on 1January next year, which is already the case at airports.

MALIBU FIRE – A wildfire burning through Malibu that has sent thousands of people fleeing for safety, including Hollywood celebrities, has forged west, as firefighters battled to save homes from the blaze. Around 4,000 acres (1,600 hectares) have been charred by the fire since it erupted late Monday and at least seven properties are known to have been destroyed in one of California's most exclusive communities.

Sport

FOOTBALL – Three postponed matches in the national football championship took place yesterday. Jeunesse beat Fola 4-2 in the Esch-sur-Alzette derby, Progrès Niederkorn and Swift Hesperange drew 1-1, and Hostert beat Rodange 4-3 at home.
Some results from yesterday's conclusion of the sixth match day in the league phase of the Champions League: 
Barcelona beat Borussia Dortmund 3-2, Juventus beat Manchester City 2-0, it was a 0-0 draw for Benfica and Bologna, Arsenal beat Monaco 3-0, and Stuttgart scored 5 goals to Bern's 1.

AMERICAN FOOTBALL – The NFL will play a regular season game in Berlin in the 2025 season. At a press conference, the NFL also announced it would play games in the capital in 2027 and 2029. All three matches will be played at Berlin's Olympic Stadium, but the league did not announce which teams will be playing in 2025 or when the match will be.

RUGBY – Australia will spend US$385 million to establish a team from Papua New Guinea in its rugby league competition, a move designed to help ward off China. Papua New Guinea has long lobbied for a side in Australia's National Rugby League, but safety fears and a lack of funding in the Pacific nation had thwarted the idea until now.

CHESS – Excitement has gripped chess enthusiasts since a World Chess Championship duel opened in Singapore on 25 November. In a large room separated from spectators by a one-way glass panel, world chess champion Ding Liren from China is defending his crown against 18-year-old Indian prodigy Gukesh Dommaraju, who is seeking to make history by becoming the youngest ever undisputed titleholder in the sport.

Weather

Today's weather is due to be dry with some high altitude cloud cover and cold temperatures. The morning will start quite chilly with temperatures ranging from 0–2°C, and potentially -1–1°C in the north of the country. During the day, temperatures will climb up to 3–5°C, before dropping back down at around 0–1°C in the evening.
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