FARMERS’ PROTEST - Luxembourg’s young farmers are joining French and German agricultural demonstrations in Schengen this morning. The protests are planned to take place between 10am and 6pm, as young farmers from the Grand Duchy join their French and German counterparts at the border. 250 participants are expected. Schengen council is advising motorists to stay clear of the area, as it is expected that the protests will block the bridge over the Moselle river, which forms the border with Germany.
CHILDREN INTERNET - BEE Secure, a government initiative to help people – and in particular children and young people – with digital technology is reporting that children are coming into contact with the digital world earlier and earlier. The report, timed to coincide with the international Safer Internet Day on Tuesday, says 35% of children already have access to a device connected to the internet before their 4th birthday. By the age of 10, 80% of children can access the internet. The time spent in front of the screen is also high: on average, 12-19-year-olds spend 224 minutes a day, i.e. almost 4 hours, online.
DEVELOPMENT COOPERATION - Foreign Minister Xavier Bettel has announced that Luxembourg will not be extending its bilateral cooperation with Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali, just as a contract was due to be signed with Burkina Faso. In January 2022, the African country was the scene of a coup d’état. Speaking from a visit to Laos, Bettel said Luxembourg would not support a coup d’etat. Projects with NGOs are not affected by this decision.
ID CARD - The Minister for Digitialisation, Stéphanie Obertin presented a bill to parliament yesterday, outlining the details of a digital version of the Luxembourg identity card. This should be available with a so-called “e-wallet”, i.e. an electronic wallet, offered in the form a free app by the state. No date for the roll-out was given.
PETROL PRICE - Small savings ahead for motorists in Luxembourg: from today, the price of 95-grade petrol has fallen by 2.4 cents to €1.52 per litre, while 98-grade petrol will fall by 2.5 cents to €1.74 per litre.
LUFTHANSA STRIKE - In Germany, the ground staff at Lufthansa are on strike today, affecting around 1000 flights. The strike at the airline is part of a pay dispute affecting 25,000 employees. Flights to Luxembourg will be affected. Lufthansa’s flights to and from Munich have already been cancelled for today.
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR - US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in Israel today, where he is expected to press for what he called an “essential” truce agreement in Gaza with Israel’s leaders. Hamas says it has given its response to a new proposed deal to pause the fighting.
NETHERLANDS COALITION TALKS - Negotiations to form the next Dutch government collapsed last night, after Pieter Omtzigt, who leads the New Social Contract (NSC) party, quit the talks. Omtzigt said he was leaving the discussions due to disagreements over how to tackle the state of the government’s finances. His support was key to securing backing for a center-right majority government with four parties, including Geer Wilders’ far-right Party for Freedom (PVV).
CHILE PINERA DIES - Chile’s former president Sebastian Pinera, a billionaire tycoon who twice held the South American nation’s top job, has died in a helicopter crash. Three other people who had been in the helicopter survived the crash. President Gabriel Boric, who succeeded Pinera in 2022 has declared three days of mourning and a state funeral on Friday.
FOOTBALL - Starting with the German Cup, Bayer Leverkusen have made the semi-finals, following a 3-2 win against Stuttgart last night. Tonight is the last quarter-final match as Saarbrücken will face Gladbach.
The semi-finals of the Africa Cup are tonight: Nigeria meet South Africa and the Democratic Republic of the Congo play against Ivory Coast.
And in the Asia Cup, one finalist has already been determined. Jordan claimed a surprising 2-0 win over South Korea yesterday. Iran will play Qatar today.
AMERICAN FOOTBALL - The Super Bowl, already a spectacle of American football, music and advertising, kicks off on Sunday with yet one more attention-grabbing lure: megastar Taylor Swift cheering from the VIP suites.The pop culture icon has been very publicly dating tight end Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs, who will face off against the San Francisco 49ers in a bid to take the Lombardi Trophy back home.
Today’s weather forecast calls for ample cloud cover with a chance of moderate rainfall persisting until late evening. Gusts of up to 65 km/h, and in places even slightly higher, will be possible, especially at the beginning of the day.
Morning temperatures range from 6 to 9°C. As we move into the afternoon, expect temperatures to climb slightly, reaching between 7 and 10°C.
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