Your Daily BriefToday's most important news in one place

MP Marc Goergen pushes for shift in control of primary schools to national level

Luxembourg is more than prepared to respond to the heat, Pirate MP Marc Goergen said in an interview on RTL on Thursday. Nevertheless, he questioned the way primary schools are run across the country. The Pirates, he said, are not defenders of municipal autonomy like other parties, and primary schools should become more of a national competence overall. The heatwave, he argued, has shown once again that some municipalities are well equipped while others are not.

There is a patchwork of measures, the result of which is that even the Ministry of Education no longer has a full overview, Goergen said. Education Minister Claude Meisch ruled out a national heat-related school closure in an interview with RTL on Wednesday, arguing that parents would no longer be able to get to work in that case. The Pirate MP countered that this was in fact the problem, and that the party would therefore argue for a window of time in which parents could stay home with their children and be paid for it by the state.

Goergen also spoke in favour of air conditioning. In his view, units are not bad for the environment and can even be climate neutral if connected to a solar installation on the roof. Even before the heatwave, the government had announced a series of measures to support the energy transition further, prompted by the US-Israeli war and the rise in oil prices.

They include the extension of pre-financing for photovoltaics, already announced, to heat pumps and electric vehicles. These measures were all very good, the Pirate MP said, although he felt they had come too late, now that oil prices had eased back again. Goergen also warned that subsidies could not be overdone.

Also today

• The Diekirch Police are asking for assistance in finding missing 15-year-old Léa Sand was last seen on Friday, 19th June.
• Luxembourg authorities have introduced emergency measures to protect homeless people during the current severe heatwave.
• Luxembourg’s Fédération Aéronautique Luxembourgeoise has urge for a balanced debate on the future of Findel Airport, warning that general aviation must not be sidelined.
• The death toll from the powerful twin earthquakes in Venezuela has risen to 164 with more than 971 injured.
• Ryanair will scrap its extra "family seat" fee after a UK regulatory probe into charges for parents sitting with children.
• A three-year-old boy has died after becoming trapped in a car during extreme heat in the Paris region, with temperatures exceeding 40°C.

On air

There's another great ticket giveaway today – this time for the superstar Alice Cooper...... but what exactly was school out for? Alina was a guest presenter on the show for Drive, with her own Cure Algo-rhythm.

Figure of the day

Former police officer that punched a prisoner in the face, sentenced to 3 years in prison and fined €5,000

• The former officer who was accused of punching a drunken individual in the face whilst holding him in custody at the Gare police station in May 2023 has been sentenced to three years in prison, with two suspended. He will also be made to pay a fine of €5,000.
• His colleague, who watched the incident unfold whilst standing nearby, will serve a two-year sentence with integral suspension, and must pay a fine of €2,000.

Stay connected: Tune in to RTL Today Radio, now on 93.3 FM and DAB+, and be sure to catch our full bulletin on the hour, every hour, and headlines at half past the hour.