Gambia II gets green light

As Delano reported on Tuesday evening, Grand Duke Henri has formally asked incumbent prime minister Xavier Betel to form a new government. Bettel had announced on Monday that his DP party was ready to hold coalition talks with the big winners of Sunday’s elections, Déi Gréng, and with the LSAP to continue the so-called Gambia government. Foreign media don’t know what to make of the election results as evidenced by reports in Deutsche Welle and Euronews.

No change at CSV, for now

A deflated CSV national committee met on Tuesday evening to discuss its future leadership following the party's disappointing election results. For now, Marc Spautz remains party president and Claude Wiseler, who says he took responsibility for the poor election outcome, will lead the party in parliament. But there are suggestions that city councillor Serge Wilmes has indicated he is ready to serve as president in the near future.

US says Saudis innocent until proven guilty

While Turkey continues to investigate the disappearance of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi, both US secretary of state Mike Pompeo and president Donald Trump have reiterated claims by Saudi Arabia that they deny all knowledge of his whereabouts. The Guardian reports that Pompeo, in Riyadh for a crisis meeting, said the “Saudi leadership strongly denied any knowledge of what took place in their consulate in Istanbul.” Trump, meanwhile, compared the case to the hearing of Brett Kavanaugh. “Here we go again with you know you’re guilty until proven innocent,” he told Associated Press.

Major warning on Brexit

Former British prime minister John Major has said that Brexit “may even, over time, break-up our United Kingdom.” Speaking at the British foreign office, as reported in The Irish Times, Major said that promises made by Leave campaigners ahead of the 2016 referendum were “vote-gathering fantasies.”

Tennis advances

ESPN is talking notice of the BGL BNP Paribas Luxembourg Open. It reported on Garbine Muguruza’s straight sets victory over Stefanie Voegele at Kockelscheuer on Tuesday. Top seed Julia Goerges also advanced to the last 16, but Luxembourg’s Many Minella is out of the tournament after losing to Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium

Worth their weight

Auctioneers Sotheby’s in London is holding an exclusive sale of 63 items that are all made of gold on Wednesday, The Guardian reports. "The Midas Touch" sale includes a gold-painted Ferrari, gold bed linen and a golden bust of Kate Moss. The most expensive item is the 1961 painting “Monogold Sans Titre” by French artist Yves Klein.

Today’s breakfast briefing was written by Duncan Roberts