BIL FOR SALE – Luxembourg bank BIL is up for sale, according to the Financial Times. Its Chinese owner, Legend Holdings, is reported to be asking $2.5 billion, around €2.2 billion. Legend paid €1.48 billion for 90% of the shares in 2017. The Luxembourg state holds the other 10%.
DRONE SIGHTINGS – Authorities in Luxembourg say no action was needed after further drone reports on Saturday evening, a day after the airport suspended flights because of drone sightings. Reports came from areas including Mersch, Diekirch and Ingeldorf. The inter-ministerial task force says many people mistook aircraft lights for drones, and no security threat was identified.
SPEECH INTERFERENCE – Environmental campaigner Blanche Weber interrupted a speech by Prime Minister Luc Frieden at Sunday's Oekofest in Pfaffenthall. Ms Weber, who heads the Mouvement écologique, had opened the event criticising the government's climate policy. She reacted after Mr Frieden said he'd rather encourage than impose measures.
CAR TUNING – Police in Luxembourg and Belgium responded to a suspected car-tuning meet involving more than 100 vehicles near Sterpenich on Saturday evening, causing long queues on the A6. One car, fitted with a blue light and other illegal modifications, was seized.
GERMANY STATE ELECTIONS – The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party made strong gains both in Berlin and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, according to exit polls. The AfD came first with just over 38% in the northeastern coastal state, and won 16% in Berlin, although it looks set to remain shut out of power in both states because of a "firewall" of non-cooperation agreed by other major parties. Chancellor Friedrich Merz has responded, calling the result in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania a disaster for his CDU party. In a televised statement, he said what's needed now is "backbone, steadfastness and patience", and vowed to carry on as both chancellor and party leader.
RUSSIA ELECTION – Vladimir Putin's United Russia party is heading for a large majority in parliamentary elections, according to partial results reported by Russian news agencies. With just over 71 % of ballots counted, it has 57.5%. No anti-war party was allowed to stand.
MIDDLE EAST CONFLICT – The US has warned that fighting between Saudi Arabia and Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis could escalate rapidly, after a missile attack targeting Riyadh. President Donald Trump cut short a weekend at Camp David and returned unexpectedly to the White House. No reason was given.
CYCLING – Mathieu van der Poel has won the final stage of the Tour de Luxembourg, riding solo from the start in Mersch to the finish in Limpertsberg. Davide Piganzoli took the overall title, 52 seconds ahead of Matteo Vercher.
FOOTBALL – In the Premier League, Manchester City beat Sunderland 5-3 to go top of the table. Fulham and Manchester United drew 1-1, Liverpool won 1-0 at Bournemouth, and Leeds and Crystal Palace drew 0-0.
In France’s Ligue 1, Paris Saint-Germain won 2-1 at Marseille, who finished with ten men. Nice beat Lille 2-1, and Auxerre beat Brest by the same score. Monaco stay top of the table.
In Italy, AC Milan beat Lecce 3-0 and Juventus won 2-0 against Atalanta. Fiorentina drew 1-1 with Napoli, and Como lost for the first time this season, 2-0 at newly promoted Frosinone. Parma beat Genoa 2-1.
TENNIS – Luxembourg have lost their Davis Cup tie against Hungary, in what was Alex Knaff's last match for the national team. Knaff, known as 'Mr Davis Cup', had announced before the tie that he would retire. Hungary clinched victory in the deciding doubles on Saturday.
A cool start in Luxembourg this Monday, with temperatures of 5 to 7°C and patches of fog. Sunshine takes over by late morning, and the afternoon is mostly sunny, with highs of around 20°C. Showers are expected overnight in parts of the country.
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