STATE OF THE NATION - Prime Minister Luc Frieden is giving his “State of the Nation” speech this afternoon. At 2:30pm, he will address the Chamber. He is expected to make announcements on housing, tax and climate policy. Debates on the declaration start tomorrow.
GERMANY STABBING - A 21-year-old man has been seriously injured in a knife attack on a train going from Trier to Saarbrücken. The man was attacked without warning and sustained serious injuries to the neck, requiring surgery at the nearby Winterberg hospital. The assailant is currently unknown, with the attack taking place shortly before arrival at the Saarbrücken Central Station at roughly 5:30pm. Police are requesting any information from possible witnesses.
POVERTY RISK - According to STATEC, 19% of residents in Luxembourg faced the risk of falling into poverty last year. This marks a 1.5% increase from the previous year, despite rising household revenues and several wage indexations.
FUEL PRICES - Diesel and heating oil prices are set to rise from midnight. Diesel will go up by 1.4 cents to €1.466 per litre, while heating oil will cost 0.92 per litre - a rise of 1.6 cents.
UN CEASEFIRE - The United Nations Security Council has voted in favour of a US resolution, calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. US envoy Linda Thomas-Greenfield has called for both Israel and Hamas to implement the plan without delay or conditions.
UKRAINE CONFERENCE - President Zelensky is in Berlin today, taking part in an international conference on the rebuilding of Ukraine. Zelensky is expected to speak in the Bundestag, the first time he will speak to the German parliament in person. His visit comes after Berlin recently issued a major U-turn, announcing it was no longer against Ukraine using German and other Western-supplied weapons to strike Russian territory.
TURBULENCE COMPENSATION - Singapore Airlines has offered $10,000 in compensation to passengers with minor injuries from a turbulent flight last month and is negotiating higher payouts for those more seriously hurt. A 73-year-old British man died, and several others sustained severe injuries when flight SQ321 from London to Singapore was diverted to Bangkok.
ELEPHANT LANGUAGE - According to a new study, elephants call out to each other using individual names that they invent for their fellow pachyderms. For the new study, a team of international researchers used an artificial intelligence algorithm to analyse the calls of two wild herds of African savannah elephants in Kenya. Elephant make a wide range of sounds, from loud trumpeting to rumbles so low they cannot be heard by the human ear.
FOOTBALL - Poland’s talismanic striker Robert Lewandowski came off injured yesterday after 32 minutes as they won their last Euro 2024 warm-up 2-1 against Turkey. It is unclear whether Lewandowski will be able to take part in Poland’s first Euro match against the Netherlands in Hamburg on Sunday.
The Netherlands beat Iceland 4-0 on Monday in Rotterdam in their final warm-up match before leaving for the European Championship in Germany.
And England’s players have left for Germany for EURO2024 after a huge send off. Prince William, the president of the Football Association, travelled to St George’s Park on Monday to wish the players luck and present them with their shirts.England, who kick off their Euro 2024 campaign against Serbia on Sunday, suffered a shock 1-0 defeat to Iceland in their final friendly last week.
ATHLETICS - And in athletics, Swedish pole vault world record holder Armand ‘Mondo’ Duplantis is leading in the qualifiers for the European championships in Rome. Duplantis, the Olympic and two-time world champion, is bidding for a third successive European title. The 24-year-old only vaulted once, clearing 5.60m to ensure his place in Wednesday’s final.
TENNIS - French Open champion Iga Swiatek cemented her place at the top of the women’s game with her victory at Roland Garros, reinforcing her position as world No.1 when the WTA released its new rankings on Monday. Apart from a few weeks in autumn 2023 when Aryna Sabalenka took over, Swiatek has been at the top of the rankings since April 2022, a total of 107 weeks.
Although it’s not as warm as the weekend, today should be a pretty sunny day with 8 hours of sunshine in total. There will be the usual fight between clouds and blue skies, yet the cloudiness increases later in the day, provoking a slight chance of rain in the afternoon. In the morning temperatures range from 7 to 10°C, in the afternoon they can rise to 18°C.
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