Bettel gives parliament much to debate
Prime minister Xavier Bettel launched what promises to be a lively debate in parliament when he delivered his government’s programme for the next five years on Tuesday afternoon. Bettel said the programme was more than a compromise between the three coalition parties, but “a solid piece of cast iron.” More on the speech and reaction in Delano’s noon briefing.
3 dead in Strasbourg shooting
At least 3 people have been killed and 12 others wounded, 6 seriously, in a shooting in Strasbourg on Tuesday evening. The BBC says the shooting happened close to the Christmas market--one of the most popular in Europe. It cites French interior minister Christophe Castaner saying that the gunman “fought twice with our security forces.” The 29-year-old suspect, a Strasbourg native, was apparently already known to the authorities. Politico reports that European Parliament President Antonio Tajani had given the order to lock down the Parliament building. But he told MEPs that work would continue, saying “we’re not going to be intimidated.”
Odds shorten on May leadership challenge
The Guardian reports that Conservative party members of parliament were lobbying colleagues to submit letters of no confidence in Theresa May’s leadership on Tuesday. There is even speculation that the threshold of 48 letters required to trigger a vote had been reached. The report cites former foreign minister Boris Johnson, home secretary Sajid Javid and works and pensions secretary Amber Rudd as among those likely to stand for election in the case of a leadership vote.
May get stuck as Merkel says deal is not up for negotiation
In what could be read as a portent sign of Theresa May’s future, the British prime minister got stuck in her car as she arrived to meet German chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin on Tuesday. Sky has video. May was on a whistle-stop tour of European leaders to try and get a better deal than the one she has delayed presenting to British parliament. But Merkel and others have told her there is no more room for negotiation, only for clarification France 24 and others report. Meanwhile, CNBC has an explainer on the Irish backstop.
Killed and detained journalists are Time person on the Year
Time magazine has awarded its prestigious “Person of the Year” accolade to what it calls “the Guardians”--listing journalists who have been killed or imprisoned in 2018. They include Jamal Khashoggi, staff at the Capital Gazette, Maria Ressa, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo. The magazine says they were chosen “for taking great risks in pursuit of greater truths, for the imperfect but essential quest for facts, for speaking up and for speaking out.”
Meng could be pawn in trade negotiations
US president Donald Trump has said that would certainly “intervene if I thought it was necessary” in the case of Huawei Technologies executive Meng Wanzhou, CNBC reports. Meng was granted bail, set at $10 million CAD, by a court in Vancouver on Tuesday. Trump said that Meng’s eventual release could possibly “be a part of negotiations”.
Google explores launch in China
Google’s chief executive, Sundar Pichai, has admitted that the company has “explored what search could look like if it were launched in a country like China.” Speaking at the House judiciary committee on Tuesday, Pichai said Google would be “transparent” and consult with policy makers before launching in China, The Guardian reports. If launched the search engine would most likely be censored and could be used for surveillance, the report claims.
Where the streets are paved in chocolate
Papers around the world picked up on the story of a leak at a chocolate maker in the German town of Westönnen that left its streets covered in the confectionery. The Daily Mail used the headline “Traffic is choc-a-block!”
Today’s breakfast briefing was written by Duncan Roberts