BETTEL GATES - Xavier Bettel met Bill Gates in Luxembourg yesterday before leaving for Italy on an economic and tourist mission with minister Lex Delles. The Prime Minister and Gates discussed “common priorities” and the current geopolitical situation as well as climate and energy issues. The Prime Minister then headed to Bologna and will continue his journey on Saturday with official visits to San Marino and Rome. Although there will be no meeting with the new Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, Bettel is expected to have a private audience with Pope Francis.
DELHAIZE RECALL - Smoked chicken sold whole by the Delhaize brand is being recalled due to the potential presence of listeria. The product weighs about 1.3 kg and has a best before date of 7 November. Listeria can cause fever, headaches, as well as gastroenteritis.
FRANCE NUCLEAR - France fears that energy will be scarce in winter. Because of this, the government plans to restart Reactor 1 of the Cattenom nuclear power plant, which is affected by corrosion. Both Greenpeace and the Luxembourg state are concerned that the reactor should go back online without being repaired. In this context, Luxembourg’s Minister of Energy Claude Turmes and the Minister of the Environment Joelle Welfring have written to the French authority for nuclear safety.
IRAN ATTACK - The militant group Islamic State says it carried out an attack on a Shi’ite Muslim shrine in Iran yesterday, which killed 15 people. Iranian officials said they have arrested a gunman who carried out the attack at a shrine in the city of Shiraz. Meanwhile Iranian security forces opened fire on protesters who massed in their thousands yesterday in Mahsa Amini’s hometown to mark 40 days since her death, according to a rights group and verified videos.
ECB INTEREST RATES - The European Central Bank will announce a new key interest rate again today to counter high inflation across the eurozone. Experts expect a rise of 0.5 to 0.75%.
META PROFITS DOWN - Facebook-parent Meta has reported that its profit has more than halved and sales have shrunk to 27.7 billion dollars last year. The company, which also owns Instagram and WhatsApp, is struggling as companies have cut advertising budgets in the face of economic uncertainty, changes to Apple’s privacy settings and competition from rivals such as TikTok.
Sport
TOUR DE FRANCE 2023 - The official routes for the 2023 Tour de France and will be presented in Paris today. The only thing currently known about the 110th edition of the men’s race is that it will begin in Bilbao on the 1st July. Then it goes over the Pyrenees, with a stage finish in San Sebastián, before entering France for the first time on stage three. The remaining 18 stages, however, remain a mystery.
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE - In football, in the Champions League, Naples, Liverpool, Bruges, Bayern and Porto have qualified for the knockout stages, the final 16.
The rain will leave us, but the clouds will be staying.And so is the sun! Expect up to 8 hours, even though it’ll be hiding behind a cloud from time to time. Morning temperatures start off at 10-13°C, rising up to 21°C in the afternoon.
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