INTEREST RATES - Interest rates are still rising in Luxembourg. The variable rate reached 2.5% at the end of 2022. This is an increase of 24 basis points compared to October. The fixed rate is also on the rise. It exceeded 3% in the month of November. This represents a significant increase.
SOLAR PANELS - The Luxembourg company SOCOM has joined forces with the Belgian company Enocells to produce photovoltaic panels. In future, around 100,000 solar panels will be produced in Luxembourg each year, which corresponds to one fifth of all panels installed in the Grand Duchy. The new production unit will open in September in Hollerich on the former site of the cigar manufacturer Heintz Van Landewyck. SOCOM hopes to hire around 20 employees.
JUSTICE BILL - A draft bill will allow residents to designate people to manage certain tasks on their behalf in the event that their mental or physical health no longer allows them to take care of these responsibilities themselves. On Wednesday, Minister of Justice Sam Tanson presented the Mandat de protection future (“Future Protection Mandate”). These acts can range from something as complex as managing another person’s personal finances to simply walking their dog.
GERMANY PROTEST - German police have pressed ahead with clearing a camp of climate activists from an abandoned town which has become symbolic of the country’s struggle to transition away from fossil fuels. Protesters barricaded themselves in to prevent Lützerath from being swallowed up by the nearby Garzweiler open coal mine. There were violent scuffles as police wearing riot gear moved into the village early on Wednesday to evict the protesters. More than 1,000 police from across Germany took part in the operation.
BIDEN DOCUMENTS - US President Joe Biden’s aides have discovered additional classified government records at a second location, in a growing political embarrassment for the White House. The first cache was found at a private office in Washington DC that Mr Biden used after his vice-presidency. The matter is under review by the US Department of Justice. Former President Donald Trump is facing a criminal investigation for allegedly mishandling classified files.
UKRAINE SOLEDAR - The Russian private military firm Wagner Group says it has completed its capture of the salt mining town Soledar in the eastern part of the country. The head of Wagner said his forces have achieved the complete “liberation” of Soledar, killing around 500 pro-Ukraine troops. Ukrainian President Zelenskyy mocked Russian claims to have taken over parts of Soledar in his nightly address, saying that fighting was still going on.
OSAKA PREGNANT - Former world number one tennis player Naomi Osaka has announced that she is pregnant and will be taking a break from tennis until 2024. The 25-year-old Osaka has not played a tennis match since September and her withdrawal from the Australian Open, which starts next week, had puzzled many observers.Osaka had not explained her absence until Wednesday, when she posted what she called “a little life update for 2023.”
BECK DIES - Jeff Beck, the influential guitarist who rose to rock and roll stardom with 1960s supergroup the Yardbirds and later enjoyed a prolific solo career, has died. He was 78 years old.
SKIING TEN RAA - In Nova Ponente in Italy, yesterday, Luxembourgish skier Gwyneth ten Raa won the junior women’s slalom race. She was over half a second faster than the Italian skier Thea Holzer.
Listen to RTL Today radio interview with Gwyneth ten Raa.
HANDBALL WC - In the opening game of the World Handball Championship, France beat Poland 26 to 24. Today Cap Verde plays against Uruguay. With Elledy Semedo from the Red Boys and Gilson Mendes Correia from Diekirch, there are two players in the Cap Verde squad who play in Luxembourg. Today, Spain plays Montenegro, Iceland meets Portugal and Sweden plays Brazil.
FOOTBALL PSG - Lionel Messi scored in Paris Saint-Germain’s 2-0 win over Angers in Ligue 1 yesterday on his first appearance since leading Argentina to victory in the World Cup. Messi had been rested for PSG’s first three matches following the long break in the season caused by the World Cup but he returned to training in Paris a week ago and was back in the starting line-up for this game against Ligue 1’s bottom side.
Windy and rainy. That’s basically all there is to say about today’s forecast. It looks like we might have a break in the afternoon from the rain but we will still have strong wind gusts of up to 59km/hour. Morning temperatures will start off at 5-7°C, rising to 6-9°C in the afternoon.
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