FRIEDEN ROMANIA - Prime Minister Luc Frieden is on a working visit to Romania today. He will meet Romanian President Klaus Iohannis. He is also attending the EPP congress in Bucharest. Frieden’s party the CSV is in the same family as the European People’s party, who will be presenting their electoral progamme for the European elections as well as choosing the party’s lead candidate. The elections are taking place on the 6-9 June.
BUDGET 2024 - The budget will be tabled in the Chamber this morning. Finance Minister Gilles Roth spoke about a transitional budget on RTL two weeks ago. He said austerity measures would be introduced that would neither harm people’s purchasing power nor the competitiveness of companies. However some austerity measure are expected to reduce the budget deficit.
ST ESPRIT CAR PARK - After undergoing extensive renovation for nearly three years, the Saint-Esprit car park in Luxembourg City is now once again fully accessible to the public 24 hours a day. The project cost nearly €7 million.
US ELECTIONS - Ballots are being counted in 15 states across the US, where millions of people have been voting to choose their preferred candidate for November’s Presidential election. Early results suggest there is likely to be a re-run of the 2020 election, in which President Biden replaced Donald Trump in the Oval office. Trump has tallied victories in Texas, California and 10 other states so far, although Nikki Haley denied him a full sweep by winning the Republican candidacy in Vermont. President Biden has captured all the states in play for him. ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR - After a long dispute, a resolution for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip is now also supported by the United States. The revision of the text now reflects the blunt remarks by Vice President Kamala Harris. However it not yet know if and when it will be voted on. Meanwhile, children have begun starving to death in Gaza, where the United Nations has warned a famine is “almost inevitable.”
GERMANY STRIKES - Fresh strikes at Lufthansa and Deutsche Bahn spell trouble for travelers. Ground staff at Lufthansa will walk out for two days, while Deutsche Bahn train drivers plan a 35-hour strike, starting this evening. About 1000 flights will be cancelled tomorrow. Unions are demanding more pay and better working conditions.
FOOTBALL - Bayern and Paris St Germain the first teams in the quarter-finals of the Champions League. Bayern beat Lazio Rome 3-0, while Paris won 2-1 against Real Sociedad. Tonight, Manchester City has a 3-1 advantage when they meet Copenhagen. And Real Madrid has a 1-0 lead when they play against Leipzig.
CYCLING - American Brandon McNulty took the overall lead of the Paris-Nice yesterday when his UAE Team won the team time-trial as aerodynamic helmets and speeding drones also hit the headlines. The giant yellow aerodynamic helmet were used by Jonas Vingegaard’s Visma team, but cycling’s regulator the UCI said it will examine the matter. In another first, drones raced alongside the teams at up 65 km/h, offering a far more pacey impression of how fast the peloton actually moves for television viewers. Today’s fourth stage takes in seven hills in a 183km ride through the Beaujolais wine-growing region.
OLYMPICS - A total of 326,000 tickets are set to be sold or given away for the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics on the river Seine, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said yesterday, giving the exact number for the first time. Organisers have scaled back their plans for the waterborne parade, in the face of resistance from French security services and worries about terror attacks.
It’s a foggy start to the day but we should see the sun out for a brief time in the morning, before returning to a cloudy but dry afternoon. Expect a refreshing wake-up call as you get out of bed to the tune of around 2-4°C. Temperatures are expected to rise to highs of 9-11°C by the afternoon.
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