PROPERTY LOANS – The Central Bank of Luxembourg has revealed the most recent interest rates granted to residents who applied for property loans in April. There have not been major changes to fixed rates, but the variable rate has improved. According to data published last week by the BCL, interest rates on loans are showing a tendency to fall – though slowly.
FOLK TRADITION – The traditional hopping procession takes place in Echternach today, Whit Tuesday. The event is held each year, in honour of the Anglo-Saxon monk Saint Willibrord. This year marks its 80th anniversary after the end of World War II. The opening Mass of the 2025 hopping procession was held at 8pm on Whit Monday, led by Stephan Ackermann, Bishop of Trier, who welcomed Ch0ristians and other attendees with the first pilgrims arriving in Echternach at 5.15am today.
A1 ACCIDENT – A lorry overturned on the A1 motorway near Kirchberg on Monday evening, leading to a full closure of the highway and significant traffic disruptions. The incident occurred around 7.25pm on the A1 heading toward Trier, near the Kirchberg exit. The lorry flipped over and came to rest on the safety barrier, also causing a pole to fall onto the opposite lane.
POLICE – Luxembourg police were called out 40 times on Sunday night due to disturbances, some of which were linked to celebrations following the Portugal vs Spain football match. After Portugal secured the win, jubilant supporters took to the streets, leading to several public disturbances. In Esch-sur-Alzette, the celebrations escalated to the point where Boulevard JF Kennedy had to be temporarily closed.
WAR IN GAZA – Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg and other activists detained aboard a Gaza-bound aid boat have been taken to a Tel Aviv airport for deportation, Israel said Tuesday, after their vessel was intercepted by naval forces. The activist group departed Italy on 1 June aboard the Madleen carrying food and supplies for Gaza, whose entire population the UN has warned is at risk of famine. Israeli forces intercepted the boat in international waters on Monday and towed it to the port of Ashdod.
Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has urged US President Donald Trump to tell Benjamin Netanyahu “enough is enough”. Calling Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza a “crime” he said he backs a renewed push for a two-state solution as the only viable path to peace. Ehud Olmert, prime minister between 2006-2009, said in an interview in Paris that the United States has more influence on the Israeli government “than all the other powers put together” and that Trump can “make a difference”.
LA PROTESTS – President Donald Trump ordered active-duty US Marines and 2,000 more National Guard troops into Los Angeles on Monday, vowing those protesting immigration arrests would be “hit harder” than ever. The extraordinary mobilisation of 700 full-time professional military personnel – and thousands of National Guard troops – looked likely to stoke tensions in a city with a huge Latino population.
MALAYSIA ACCIDENT – A bus carrying university students back to their campus after an Islamic public holiday over the weekend smashed into a minivan in northern Malaysia on Monday, killing at least 15 people, police and rescue services said. Thirteen victims died at the scene near the town of Gerik, on the busy East-West Highway near the Thai border, while two died in hospital. The accident is the deadliest in more than a decade on Malaysia’s hazardous roads and came as students were returning to school.
FUNK ROCK – Sly Stone, the trailblazing frontman of Sly and the Family Stone, has died at 82, his family announced yesterday. The multi-instrumentalist frontman for rock’s first racially integrated, mixed-gender lineup “passed away peacefully, surrounded by his three children, his closest friend and his extended family”, after a prolonged battle with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and other health issues, his family said in a statement.
FOOTBALL – The Luxembourg Football Federation has issued a statement after the removal of protest banners at Stade de Luxembourg during Luxembourg’s recent match against Slovenia. Protesters at Friday night’s Luxembourg-Slovenia friendly used symbolic red cards and banners to condemn the national team’s selection of Gerson Rodrigues, a player previously convicted of domestic violence. The federation emphasised that there was no instruction to remove the protestors’ banners, adding that such an action has never aligned with the FLF’s philosophy.
American World Cup host city officials assured Monday that overseas fans would be welcome at next year’s tournament in the United States, Canada and Mexico despite “uncertainty” amid ongoing concerns over visas, border controls and social unrest. In a briefing in New York that came just over a year from the opening game of the tournament on 11 June 2026, officials said President Donald Trump’s administration remained “extremely supportive” of the World Cup.
SWIMMING – Summer McIntosh smashed the decade-old world record in the women’s 200m individual medley on Monday, touching the wall in 2min 05.70sec for her second record at the Canadian swimming trials. The triple Olympic gold medallist has become the first woman to duck under 2:06. This marked McIntosh’s second world record of the meet following her 400m freestyle world record on Saturday.
ICE HOCKEY – The Florida Panthers thrashed the Edmonton Oilers 6-1 in a stormy Stanley Cup Final game-three clash on Monday to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series. An ill-tempered battle between the two rivals was punctuated by several brawls in the closing stages as the Oilers’ frustration boiled over. The Panthers and Oilers had fought two nail-biting overtime duels in games one and two to leave the series finely balanced at 1-1.
This morning’s temperatures will start at around 10–12°C rising to highs of between 21 and 23°C later on.
During the afternoon, cloud cover will gradually decrease and only a bank of high-altitude clouds will remain by late evening.
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