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The US Justice Department is investigating an individual at the White House who allegedly offered “a substantial political contribution in exchange for a presidential pardon or reprieve of sentence”. Photo: Shutterstock 

Trier attack leaves 5 dead, 14 injured

Five people, including a 9-week-old baby and her 45-year old father, were killed and many seriously injured after a Range Rover drove through Trier’s main pedestrian zone on Tuesday afternoon. The driver, a 51-year old local man who was detained within 4 minutes of the police being alerted, appeared to have deliberately mowed people down with the vehicle. Delano has the full story and will update as more, verified, information is released.

White House “bribery-for-pardon” scheme

The US Justice Department is investigating a “bribery-for-pardon scheme” involving an individual at the White House who allegedly offered “a substantial political contribution in exchange for a presidential pardon or reprieve of sentence” according to a heavily redacted document. The document does not name any individuals and Reuters says that no government official is a target of the investigation. Adam Schiff, the Democrat chair of the House intelligence committee, told MSNBC that speculation regarding who might be involved in the scheme should be avoided. “It doesn’t have to be any of the parties that we think that may want a pardon: the [Paul] Manaforts, the Giulianis and others,” Schiff said. The Guardian and The Washington Post also have details.

Barr says no evidence of widespread voter fraud

US Attorney General William Barr has said the Justice Department has found no evidence of widespread voter fraud that could have changed the result of the 2020 presidential election. In an interview with AP, Barr said US attorneys and FBI agents have been working to follow up specific complaints and information. Indeed, not long after the election had been called for Joe Biden, Barr issued a directive to US. attorneys across the country allowing them to pursue any “substantial allegations”. But that didn’t stop president Donald Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani responding to Barr’s statement by claiming that “there hasn’t been any semblance” of an investigation. CNN, The New York Times and Fox News have more.

Luxembourg: 9 more fatalities

Another nine people died on Monday after testing positive for the coronavirus, bringing the death toll since the beginning of the pandemic to 330. 212 patients were being treated in hospital, including 42 in intensive care. 451 people tested positive on Monday out of 9,233 tests carried out, the health ministry reported on Tuesday. Check out our rolling coverage for more.

Covid global update

UK: The Guardian reports that the UK medicines regulator could license the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine for emergency use as soon as Wednesday. USA: the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is to recommend that residents and employees of nursing homes be the first people in the United States to receive coronavirus vaccination, according to The New York Times. Fox News reports that activists placed black body bags in front of the Washington residences of Republican senators Mitch McConnell, Susan Collins, James Inhofe, and Lindsey Graham. Many of the bags bore tags that read “Trump COVID Death”.

New digital procurement chair at uni.lu

The University of Luxembourg and the ministry of economy on Tuesday announced the creation of a new chair in digital procurement. The project has the support of the CPO Club, which includes major players such as ArcelorMittal, Ferrero, Amazon, and Vodafone who operate purchases from Luxembourg. Delano has more details.

Hear about the new Delano

As we wrap up our January edition of Delano magazine--a 2021 preview special, out on 15 December--Delano is looking ahead to an exciting 12 months for the brand. A webinar later today, 2 December, will see Duncan Roberts, Nathalie Reuter and Dominique Gouviaux explain Delano’s repositioning plans for 2021, including a monthly relaunch of the magazine, new website and newsletters. Sign up for the free webinar here.

Salesforce gets Slack

Cloud computing giant Salesforce is acquiring workplace chat app Slack in a deal worth $27.7 billion. Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff said the deal was a “match made in heaven” while his Slack counterpart Stewart Butterfield said he believed “this is the most strategic combination in the history of software.” The FT, Wall Street Journal and The Verge have details.

Nasdaq to push for board diversity

Nasdaq is asking the Securities and Exchange Commission for permission to adopt a new regulation that would require companies on its exchange to have at least one woman and one diverse director. Breach of a further requirement to report data on board diversity could even result in a delisting. More than 75% of the exchange’s roughly 3,200 companies do not currently meet the criteria. The New York Times, CNBC and Wall Street Journal report.

Police raid Nazi group

The homes of 11 members of the Wolfsbrigade 44 group in Germany were raided by police officers after the German government banned the far-right group. “There’s no place in this country for an association that sows hatred and works on the resurrection of a Nazi state,” interior minister, Horst Seehofer, said in a statement. Deutsche Welle and The Guardian have more.

Hungarian MEP resigns after sex party raid

Hungarian MEP Jozsef Szajer resigned after police raided what has been described as a sex party in Brussels on Friday night. Szajer allegedly tried to flee via a drainpipe after police entered the private apartment and found 25 attendees, most of whom were men. All were issued a €250 fine for violating lockdown rules. Drugs were also found, and in an apologetic statement Szajer claimed that “the police say that an ecstasy pill was found. It is not mine.” Szajer is a prominent member of Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz party, which has repeatedly spoken out against LGBTQ rights. The Brussels Times and Euronews have more.

Today’s breakfast briefing was written by Duncan Roberts