ELECTION ANNOUNCEMENT - The government has announced that national elections will take place on October 8 next year. 60 MPs will be elected to the Chamber of Deputies for a five-year term. The bloc of parties that reaches at least 31 seats and form a coalition, can then form a new government. Voters will be called to the polls by their local council. Municipal elections will be held just a few months earlier, on June 11, 2023.
DIGITALISATION LUXCHAT - Luxembourg’s Minister for Digitalisation Marc Hansen has unveiled a new messaging service called Luxchat – similar to whatsapp. The software was created and is administered entirely in Luxembourg. According to the Minister, this has the advantage of ensuring the security of data shared on the service. The app is set to be released in the coming months. It will initially be restricted to civil servants, but it will eventually be made available to everyone. In addition, a new digital wallet to save documents such as IDs and driving licences will be available soon as well.
PETROL PRICE DOWN - Good news for drivers again, the prices of SP95 and SP98 petrol continue to drop in Luxembourg. From today, a litre of SP95 will cost 4.9 cents less, reaching 1.59 euros. The same goes for SP98, for which the price has been dropping for 10 days. The petrol will drop 5.4 cents, costing 1.82 euros per litre. The price of diesel remains unchanged.
MH17 VERDICT - More than 8 years after a Malaysian Airlines plane was shot down over eastern Ukraine, a verdict will be handed down today in the trial of four men accused of downing flight MH17 with a missile. None of the accused have appeared before the criminal court in Amsterdam during the trial - they are 3 Russians and a Ukrainian man, who in July 2014 held high positions among the pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine. 298 people onboard MH17 died.
MIDTERMS HOUSE - In the US, the Republican party has won the 218th seat needed to give them control in the House of Representatives, following last week’s midterm elections. The Democrats have held the Senate. A Republican majority will limit President Biden’s ability to enact his legislative agenda.
POLAND MISSILE - Kiev has reaffirmed that the missile that killed two people in a Polish village near the border with Ukraine yesterday was “Russian”. It contradicts NATO and Washington, which believe it was a Ukrainian defence missile. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on television last night that he had no doubt the missile was not from Ukraine and called to be part of an international investigation group into the incident.
BEAUJOLAIS NOUVEAU - it is the launch of this year’s Beaujolais Nouveaux. Today begins the journey of over a million cases of Beaujolais Nouveau wine to Paris before being shipped around the world. By French law, the wine cannot be released any earlier than the third Thursday of November each year.
WORLD CUP ARRIVALS - Argentina and superstar Lionel Messi have arrived in Qatar for the World Cup early this morning, just hours after a 5-0 warm-up victory against the United Arab Emirates. One of the favourites going into this year’s World Cup, Argentina will begin their campaign on Tuesday against Saudi Arabia in Group C, which also includes Mexico and Poland. The French team have also arrived in Doha, seeking to become the first team to retain the World Cup since Brazil in 1962. Ten members of the 2018 title-winning squad are in the squad, including captain Hugo Lloris, Kylian Mbappe and Antoine Griezmann.
https://today.rtl.lu/sport/international/a/1992763.html
FOOTBALL LUX-HUNGARY - The national football team will play a test match against Hungary tonight. Kick-off is at 8 o’clock in the Stade de Luxembourg.
It’s shaping up to be another rainy day here in the Grand Duchy, without any real breaks all day. Morning temperatures will start off at 8-11°C only rising up to 12 °C in the afternoon
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