UKRAINE WAR – Luxembourg Prime Minister Luc Frieden on Monday updated MPs on the high-level Ukraine summit held in London on Sunday. He refrained from commenting on the UK and France’s proposed ceasefire plan and said he would await the outcomes of the upcoming EU summit on Thursday, where Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is expected to speak. Frieden will make a statement in the Chamber of Deputies at 2pm today.
In an interview with RTL Television last night, Minister of Defence Yuriko Backes said that Luxembourg should be able to achieve the NATO defence spending target of 2% by 2030. She warned that defence spending should now be more of a priority than investing in roads, trams, buildings, and housing in Luxembourg. She said that the danger that Russia goes further than Ukraine is real and that we must all prepare for it.
UNION MEETING – As a high-stakes meeting looms today, the OGBL and LCGB trade unions are reiterating their demands for safeguards on union negotiation rights while calling for urgent discussions on a range of labour reforms. The “major social round table” promised by PM Frieden has yet to materialise.
DRUGS SEIZURE – Luxembourg authorities have seized 508 kilograms of cocaine at the Cargo Center of Findel Airport, marking the largest air freight drug bust in the country’s history. The haul, with an estimated street value of nearly €100 million, was discovered in early February in a shipment from Brazil.
CHURCH ABUSE – The Catholic Church’s contact service for victims of abuse reported one case of sexual abuse within the Luxembourg Catholic Church last year. The alleged abuse involved a minor and is said to have taken place in a church-operated children’s home during the 1970s and 1980s. The suspected perpetrator is believed to have been a resident of the home.
AFRICAN SWINE FEVER – Luxembourg is ramping up precautionary measures against African Swine Fever (ASF), extending a wild boar culling incentive and preparing emergency response plans after an outbreak was reported in Germany. There have been no cases in the county to date.
TRUMP UKRAINE – US President Donald Trump has suspended military aid to Ukraine just days after his row with President Zelensky. The pause has gone into effect immediately and impacts hundreds of millions of dollars of weaponry in the process of being sent to Ukraine. There is no indication about the possible length of the pause and there’s been no comment so far from Ukraine.
GERMANY ATTACK – German police say they do not think there was a political or religious motive behind a car-ramming attack that killed two people in the city of Mannheim. The suspect, who has been arrested, is a 40-year-old German man who appears to be mentally ill. Five other people were seriously injured when the car was driven into pedestrians.
POPE HOSPITAL – The Vatican says Pope Francis suffered two episodes of acute respiratory failure on his 18th day in hospital in Rome. Doctors had to intervene to clear his lungs and he is back on a mechanical ventilator and oxygen mask. The Vatican said he was “alert, focused, and cooperative”. The pope, who is 88, is being treated for double pneumonia.
US TARIFFS – US tariffs of 25% on goods from Canada and Mexico have come into effect. Canada said it would retaliate immediately. Tariffs on Chinese imports will double, raising them from 10 to 20%. US stock markets have tumbled after President Trump’s announcement.
OBESITY STUDY – According to a new study, nearly 60% of all adults and a third of all children in the world will be overweight or obese by 2050 unless governments take action. The research published in the Lancet medical journal used data from 204 countries to paint a grim picture of what it described as one of the great health challenges of the century.
FOOTBALL – It’s the first leg of the round of 16 in the Champions League tonight. Among the games, Aston Villa are taking on Club Brugge, Real Madrid are playing Atletico, PSV Eindhoven play Arsenal, and Borussia Dortmund are up against LOSC Lille.
Michel Platini, the former head of UEFA, told a Swiss appeals court on Monday, where his acquittal on fraud charges is being examined, that FIFA “owed” him the two million Swiss francs at the heart of the case. The special appeals court is hearing a request by the country’s Attorney General’s office (OAG) to reopen proceedings against 69-year-old Platini as well as former FIFA president Sepp Blatter. The long-running legal saga began in 2015 when Blatter quit as head of FIFA in a corruption crisis.
It will be a bright and dry day with little to no clouds in sight, allowing for ten whole hours of sunshine! Just like yesterday, the morning starts off with chilly temperatures of -3 to 0°C. And then expect 9 to 12°C by the afternoon.
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