UKRAINE SUPPORT - Luxembourg continues to support Ukraine. Over the past eleven months, the Grand Duchy has provided Ukraine with more than €75 million in lethal and non-lethal equipment. It has further embarked on a two-year mission to train Ukrainian military personnel. In addition, the emergency status put in place in Europe to react to the massive influx of refugees has been extended for another year, until 4 March 2024.
MASTECTOMY NUMBERS - In 2022, 513 patients in Luxembourg underwent a mastectomy, which is the surgical removal of one or both breasts. This figure was given by Minister of Health Paulette Lenert, who said that all of these patients had a mastectomy as part of their breast cancer treatment between 2017 and 2021.
TELEWORK PETITION - And another petition will be debated in the Chamber this morning – the petition calls for 2 days of telework per week for everyone, including cross-border workers. Almost 14,000 signatures have been collected.
GERMANY TANKS - German media are reporting that the Chancellor Olaf Scholz has decided to send 14 modern battle tanks to Ukraine, after weeks of pressure from Kyiv and its allies. Other countries could also be permitted to re-export German-built Leopard II tanks to Ukraine. Britain has already sent tanks. The US is expected to announce plans to send at least 30 M1 Abrams tanks.
NEW ZEALAND PM - Jacinda Ardern has been replaced by Chris Hipkins as the new prime minister of New Zealand. Hipkins was sworn in earlier today, saying he was “energised and excited by the challenges ahead”. Ardern said last week she no longer had “enough in the tank” after steering the country through natural disasters, its worst-ever terror attack and the Covid-19 pandemic.
FINLAND NATO - Finland has said for the first time that it had to consider joining NATO without Sweden, whose bid appears to have ground to a halt, as Turkey continues to block it. Finland and Sweden applied to join NATO last year after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, ending decades-long policies of military non-alignment.
PARIS HILTON BABY - Media personality and hotel heiress Paris Hilton has announced that she and husband Carter Reum have welcomed their first child. Hilton posted a photo on Instagram of what appeared to be her newborn baby grasping her thumb.US entertainment media reported that the baby boy had been born via surrogate.
FOOTBALL BUNDESLIGA - In the German Bundesliga, yesterday, Bayern played a 1-1 draw with Köln. RB Leipzig beat Schalke 6-1. Wolfsburg won 5-0 at Hertha. And it was a 2-2 draw between Hoffenheim and Stuttgart. Today, Mainz play Dortmund, Freiburg vs. Frankfurt and Augsburg play Gladbach.
AUSTRALIAN OPEN TENNIS - At the Australian Open in tennis, one of the women’s semi-final is complete. The Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka beat the Croatian player Donna Vekic in two sets early this morning and will now play the Polish player Magda Linette.On the men’s side, Novak Djokovic and Andrej Rublev will face each other in the quarter-finals this morning.
SKIING SLALOM - Frenchman Clément Noel won the slalom in Schladming yesterday evening. Over 40,000 spectators were at the night event, which was run completely under floodlights. Noel was only 7th after the 1st race, and won, ahead of the Swiss skier Ramon Zennhäuser and the Norwegian Lucas Braathen. The giant slalom takes place tonight.
It’s another chilly, cloudy day, but there’s no snow or rain in store. Those clouds may break sometime during the afternoon, letting in just enough sun to warm temperatures back up to positive figures. Morning temperatures will start off cold at -4 to 0 °C, rising to around 0-4 °C in the afternoon.
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