EU SUMMIT – Luxembourg’s Prime Minister says the EU needs an ambitious budget, but what matters more is knowing how the money will be spent and where it will come from. Luc Frieden is in Brussels, where leaders are in contentious discussions over the EU's multi-annual budget of close to €2 trillion. Germany and the Netherlands want to cut spending while some countries are demanding a bigger EU budget than ever. Frieden says Luxembourg sits in the middle, and rejects a new EU corporate tax after cutting the rate at home.
Today the summit turns to further help for Ukraine, with President Zelensky in attendance. Germany has already announced that Kyiv must be helped further, beyond the 90-billion-euro loan planned for this year. Migration and the Middle East are also on the agenda.
ACTION AGAINST ISRAEL – Prime Minister Luc Frieden says the government council will discuss possible import bans on goods from illegal Israeli settlements today. Foreign Minister Xavier Bettel raised the idea in the Chamber yesterday, and Frieden says the whole government backs it, though a single European solution would be better.
FAMILY ALLOWANCES – MPs have unanimously voted for an increase in family and back-to-school allowances from 1 January. MPs have also approved funding for the new international school campus in Mondorf-les-Bains. The new campus will have a primary school and a secondary school teaching European and Luxembourg curricula, plus boarding. It will take nearly 1,700 pupils and is scheduled to be ready for the start of the 2031 school year.
OREGON SHOOTING – Three children, aged 5, 8 and 11 and one teacher have been shot dead at a primary school in the US state of Oregon. Police say a 16-year-old forced his way into Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend on Thursday afternoon. According to the police, a bystander shot the gunman dead.
US EXECUTION LIVESTREAM – President Trump has cancelled plans to livestream the execution of Nidal Hasan, a convicted US military base shooter. The plan drew criticism from Democrats and Republicans, the Catholic Church and the United Nations. The reversal is a blow to Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth.
UKRAINE WAR – Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky says Ukraine will resume strikes on Russian energy infrastructure, despite Donald Trump's insistence that they stop. Zelensky told the Financial Times that Ukraine had lifted its block on such attacks.
EU EMISSIONS – Germany and France are reported to have agreed that the ban on new petrol and diesel cars should come in more slowly than planned. The European Commission had already proposed a 90% emissions cut from 2035, instead of a full ban. Berlin and Paris now want to go further, to ease pressure on their carmakers, who are struggling against Chinese competition in the electric market.
TABLE TENNIS – Luxembourg's Ni Xia Lian is through to the last 16 at the European Championships. She beat Ukraine's Margaryta Pesotska in seven games yesterday afternoon, and today she plays 20-year-old German Annett Kaufmann, the junior world champion.
TENNIS – At the Ladies Tennis Masters at the Coque, the first two semi-finalists are known. Germany's Angelique Kerber beat Monica Puig of Puerto Rico in straight sets last night, and Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska beat France's Tatjana Golovin, also in straight sets. At 6pm, Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic plays Belgium's Yanina Wickmayer. Slovakia's Magdalena Rybarikova then plays France's Alizé Cornet.
FOOTBALL – In the Europa League, Benfica beat Celtic 4-1 and AC Milan won 4-0 in Salzburg. Lyon beat Crystal Palace 3-2, and Besiktas won 3-2 at Hoffenheim. Marseille lost 1-0 at home to Piraeus.
The sixth round of the Bundesliga starts this evening, with Frankfurt against Cologne at 8.30pm.
It’s a bit of a foggy start out there, but good news is it should lift as the day goes on, and we're in for a nice spell of sunshine, staying dry too. Clouds roll in from the west this evening, with a few showers overnight. And it's a very mild one for October: we start around 8°C to 10°C, climb to 19°C this afternoon.
You can check out photos of fog over Luxembourg here.
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