MISSING PERSON - The police is currently looking for Maria Arminda De Almeida, a 65 year old woman who went missing this Sunday. She is about 1.60 meters tall, has long black hair and speaks Portuguese and limited French. Authorities say that she may be in Belgium at this moment. Any relevant information can be directly sent to the Diekirch/Vianden police station or by ringing 113.
PALESTINE PETITION - A petition calling for the recognition of the Palestinian state has garnered more than 4,500 signatures in a short period of time and will now be debated in the Chamber of Deputies. The author of the petition asserts that Luxembourg recognising the Palestinian state would represent a crucial symbolic step.The petition was launched a few days ago, and signatures can still be collected for over the next month.
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR - Israel has given a first indication of when its forces might launch a ground offensive against Rafah in southern Gaza. A minister in the Israeli war cabinet, Benny Gantz said the assault would begin in three weeks, unless Hamas released all hostages before the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Israel will be expected to evacuate up to a million civilians from the city before any assault.
Lawyers at the International Court of Justice in the Hague are due to begin hearings about the legality of Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories since the 6-day war in 1967. They were asked to provide an advisory opinion by the UN General Assembly in a request that pre-dates the current war in Gaza.
NAVALNY DEATH - International criticism of Russia, following the death of Alexei Navalny is not subsiding. There is still no exact information about what the Kremlin critic died of, or where his body is. Moscow is accused of trying to cover up the cause of his death. Public demonstrations of mourning for opposition politicians are not allowed in Russia. Police over the weekend arrested hundreds of Russians, who came to lay flowers and light candles in Navalny’s honour.
Alexei Navalny’s widow, Julia, is meeting EU foreign ministers in Brussels today. The EU aims to send a strong message of support for Russian activists.
Other topics in Brussels today are the war in the Gaza Strip and Ukraine. And new military deployments due to the Houthi attacks on cargo ships in the Red Sea.
BAFTA AWARDS - “Oppenheimer” has won 7 Baftas at the British Academy Film Awards in London including best film, best director for Christopher Nolan, best actor for Cillian Murphy and best supporting actor for Robert Downey Jr. Emma Stone won best actress for her role in “Poor Things.”
FOOTBALL - Starting with football, Bayern Munich slumped to a shock 3-2 loss to Bochum yesterday, suffering a third successive defeat for the first time since 2015 and leaving them eight points behind Bayer Leverkusen in the Bundesliga title race. The result followed a 3-0 league defeat to Leverkusen last weekend and a 1-0 loss against Lazio in the Champions League.
Freiburg and Frankfurt drew 3 – 3.
It was the 17th matchday in national football: Leader Differdange drew 1-1with Mondercange. F91 Dudelange beat Racing 3-0. Hesperange won 3-1 against Rosport, Niederkorn beat Schifflange 4-0 and Jeunesse Esch won 1.0 againt Fola.
ATHLETICS - At the Indoor Championships at the Coque yesterday, new national records were broken, including Charline Mathias in the 800m, Patrician van der Weken ran the 200m sprint in 23,29 seconds and Melody Koffi in the triple jump. She beat a 24-year-old record by 10cm, jumping 12.26 meters.
We’ll have clouds, clouds and more clouds today, with the odd glimpse of sunshine and a small chance of rain towards the evening. Morning temperatures of 5-7°C will struggle up towards 8-10°C in the afternoon, and fall back to where they started by the evening.
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