Israelis who fled October attacks settle into Luxembourg life
Four months after Hamas fighters launched an attack on Israel, and Luxembourg helped evacuate citizens from the country, families are settling into their new lives in the Grand Duchy, not planning to return.
Luxembourg Times editor-in-chief Cordula Schnuer listened to the traumatic testimony of two families who have since decided to make the Grand Duchy their permanent home.
She also talked with Gazans in Luxembourg are urgently appealing to the government to help them evacuate their families.
How Luxembourg helps de-mine Laos
During a trip to Laos, his first overseas as Development Cooperation Minister, Xavier Bettel on Tuesday visited a de-mining project to understand how funds provided by Luxembourg are used to clear unexploded ammunitions and mines.
Laos is the most heavily bombed country in the world per capita, after the US dropped two million tons of explosives over the territory between 1964 and 1973 during the Vietnam war. Seven decades later, Lao people continue being victims of unexploded ordinance.
Luxembourg provides support to the UXO Lao national demining programme through the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and has allocated €1 million between 2022 and this year to de-mining and awareness raising efforts.
Education minister denies violent altercation with woman as police investigate
In a story broken by Luxemburger Wort, Education Minister Claude Meisch has denied allegations that he physically assaulted a woman in a Luxembourg City restaurant last month, his ministry said on Thursday.
After claims that Meisch attacked a woman in a restaurant on 5 January, the ministry confirmed that a meeting had taken place but formally denied that the minister “physically assaulted” anyone and said he reserves the right to take legal action in the case.
RTL on Thursday reported that the woman in question is a senior civil servant at his ministry. According to the broadcaster, she also denies the allegation that Meisch assaulted her, which emerged from a video posted on Instagram.
EU institution trainees in Luxembourg out-of-pocket, auditors find
Compensation paid to trainees at EU institutions in Luxembourg does not cover basic living costs, unlike in Brussels or Strasbourg, a report by the bloc’s budget watchdog has found.
Most EU institutions pay trainees between €1,375 and €1,500 a month, according to information compiled by the Luxembourg-based European Court of Auditors, which analysed traineeships between 2013 and 2023 using a range of open data such as EU reports.
While auditors calculated the basic cost of living in Brussels and Strasbourg – the other two seats of the EU institutions which welcome trainees – at €1,445 and €1,339 per month respectively, for Luxembourg that amount rises to €2,116.
Luxembourg military satellite to finally launch end of year
The much-delayed Luxembourg military satellite project Luxeosys is set to launch at the end of this year or early next year, Defence Minister Yuriko Backes told parliament on Monday.
The Luxembourg Earth Observation System, which will deliver high-resolution images of Earth’s surface, is part of Luxembourg’s plan to boost military spending.
The launch, which has been delayed on several occasions, is “now planned between October 2024 and January 2025,” Backes told members of parliament at a joint closed-door meeting of the defence and budget committees, according to a report published on the Chamber of Deputies’ website.
The government has decided that the satellite will be launched by Elon Musk’s SpaceX and no longer by European operator Arianespace.
