LIBERTY STEEL – Minister of Labour Georges Mischo has expressed optimism about resolving the Liberty Steel crisis, as 150 employees enter their sixth month without pay. The industrial case, ongoing for six years, reached a critical point when the Dudelange-based plant filed for bankruptcy last November. At the Economic Committee meeting yesterday in Luxembourg City, Minister Mischo acknowledged the exhausting situation for the workers and assured them “they will not be forgotten”.
HOUSING – Luxembourg’s government spent €126 million acquiring 208 off-plan properties last year, Housing Minister Claude Meisch has revealed. Of these properties, 48 will be ready for occupancy by the end of June. The initiative of acquiring private developments that are still under construction was launched two years ago to stimulate the real estate market and increase affordable housing stock.
POPE FUNERAL – Grand Duke Henri and Prime Minister Luc Frieden will join an assembly of world leaders in Rome this weekend for the funeral of Pope Francis. The ceremony is scheduled for 10am on Saturday at St Peter’s Square. Pope Francis’ coffin will be transferred to St Peter’s Basilica today for three days of lying in state. The body of the Argentine pope, who died on Monday aged 88 after a stroke, will remain there until his funeral in the majestic Baroque plaza in front of the basilica.
MOBILITY – A speed enforcement operation on the A4 motorway yesterday saw seven drivers lose their licences immediately. Luxembourg police conducted the targeted speed check during a two-hour period near a construction site where the speed limit is 70km/h. Officers issued 16 citations for drivers exceeding the limit by over 25km/h, each resulting in a €145 fine and a two-point licence deduction. Separately, one motorist received a €250 fine and four-point deduction for using a mobile phone while driving.
UKRAINE PEACE TALKS – Britain hosts a new round of talks today involving the United States, Ukraine, and European nations amid a new US effort to end Russia’s war in Ukraine. The London meeting comes as US media reports that President Donald Trump is ready to accept recognition of annexed land in Crimea as Russian territory. US presidential envoy Steve Witkoff is to visit Moscow this week, the White House has confirmed, in what would be his fourth trip to Russia since Trump took office.
US ADMINISTRATION – Elon Musk has said he will scale back his work for the Trump administration‘s efficiency drive to refocus on Tesla, after the automaker reported a 71% plunge in first-quarter profits amid slumping sales and mounting political backlash. “Probably in the next month, my time allocation to DOGE will drop significantly”, Musk said at the outset of an earnings conference call, referring to his work for the Department of Government Efficiency. The comments came as Tesla reported profits of $409 million following a drop in auto sales.
MANHUNT – Indian security forces in Kashmir carried out a major manhunt a day after gunmen opened fire on tourists, slaughtering 26 people in the region’s deadliest attack on civilians since 2000. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who cut short a state visit to Saudi Arabia, decried the “heinous act” and pledged that the attackers “will be brought to justice”.
A hospital list of the dead verified by police listed 26 dead in the attack -- all men, who were killed on Tuesday afternoon when gunmen burst out of forests at a popular tourist spot and raked crowds of visitors with automatic gunfire.
CONSERVATION – Nepal’s first nationwide survey of the threatened snow leopard has revealed numbers are higher than previous estimates. There are around 400 of the elusive big cats in the Himalayan nation, wildlife officials said. The species are listed as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, but the survey offers a rare glimmer of hope for their future. “This is a historic step in Nepal’s snow leopard conservation journey”, Haribhadra Acharya, senior ecologist at the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation, told AFP. “This is the first time we are getting authentic data with the great effort of researchers”, he said.
FOOTBALL – Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al Nassr are one of three big-spending Saudi Arabian clubs hunting AFC Champions League glory on home soil when the final knockout stages begin on Friday. The desert nation will host the quarter-finals, semi-finals, and the final of Asia’s premier club competition from 25 April to 3 May in Jeddah.
Pep Guardiola admitted his wild celebration of Matheus Nunes’ stoppage-time winner against Aston Villa felt strange because Manchester City don’t score as many late goals as their Premier League rivals. Nunes fired City to a crucial 2-1 victory over top-five rivals Villa in the fourth minute of stoppage-time at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday. Guardiola responded to Nunes’s composed finish from an acute angle by launching into a frenzied fist-pumping dance of joy including a primal roar that underlined the significance of the result.
CRICKET – Former England cricket star Freddie Flintoff has spoken about his mental health struggles in one of his first interviews since his horrific car crash on the set of television programme Top Gear. The 47-year-old spoke of his anxiety following the 2022 crash and admitted he initially found it hard to return to public life. Flintoff retired as a player in 2010 aged 31 after playing in 79 Tests between 1998 and 2009.
GOLF – Nelly Korda heads into her title defence in the Chevron Championship seeking her first victory of 2025, a stark contrast to the blistering early pace of her 2024 campaign but one that doesn’t bother the world number one at all. “I would say last year is last year”, Korda said on Tuesday as she prepared for the first women’s major of the year to tee off on Thursday at Carlton Woods in suburban Houston. “This is a brand new year. What I achieved last year, no one can take that from me. That’s always going to be such a great memory, but it’s a fresh week and a fresh mindset.”
A grey and wet start to Wednesday, with cloud and rain forecast for the morning and a chance the sun might peek out from behind the clouds later this morning. Temperatures are will be around 6–9°C, rising to a maximum of 13°C in the afternoon.
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