WHO head issues 6-month warning
“We all want this to be over. We all want to get on with our lives, but the hard reality is that this is not even close to being over.” So said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization, during a briefing on Monday. “Some countries have now experienced a resurgence of cases as they start to reopen their economies and societies,” Tedros said. “Most people remain susceptible. The virus still has a lot of room to move.” The WHO chief called for countries to deploy more and better contact tracing. Tuesday is the 6-month anniversary of the first reported covid-19 case in China. The virus has infected more than 10.1m people and killed more than 502,000. Sources: AFP, CNBC, Marketwatch, NPR and Reuters.
Luxembourg coronavirus update
14 out of 1,205 people tested for covid-19 in the grand duchy over the 24 hours to Monday afternoon were positive. The Rt_eff reproduction rate was 1.37 (above the targeted threshold of 1). Source: Health ministry.
“No big parties” pleads Fayot
Franz Fayot, the LSAP economy minister, said a second shutdown would be “catastrophic” for Luxembourg’s economy and for unemployment. He was encouraging residents to observe public health measures. Source: Franz Fayot on Twitter.
Health spending to spike in 2020
Social security spending should rise by roughly 10% this year, due to the covid-19 crisis, but the system is expected to still end the year with a surplus. That’s according to Romain Schneider, the LSAP social security minister, speaking during a parliamentary hearing on Monday. Source: Chamber of Deputies and Paperjam.
Schneider justifies satellite spending
Cost overruns on the Luxeosys military satellite project were due to technical changes requested by his Green party successor, Etienne Schneider, a former LSAP defence minister told the parliamentary budget committee on Monday. The original cost was budgeted to be €170m; the government has now asked parliament for an additional €180m. Green MP Djuna Bernard pointed to previous poor planning. Sources: Chamber of Deputies and 100,7 public radio.
High school to offer finance and marketing specialisations
The School of Business and Management (ECG) will open a finance and a marketing, media and communication section when the 2020-2021 school year begins. Source: Education ministry.
China passes HK security law
Beijing has formerly approved a controversial national security law for Hong Kong. Sources: The Guardian, Hong Kong Free Press, Reuters and South China Morning Post.
US off EU travel list
Americans will likely not be able enter the EU when the bloc reopens its external borders on 1 July. Source: BBC, CNN, Financial Times and The Guardian.
Price set for first covid-19 medication
Gilead Sciences will charge $3,120 in the US and $2,340 in other developed countries for a 5-day course of remdesivir, the first approved treatment for covid-19. Sources: Financial Times, Marketwatch, New York Times and NPR.
Covid-19 pushes Cirque de Soleil into bankruptcy
The entertainment outfit Cirque de Soleil has filed for bankruptcy and laid off 3,500 workers. It reportedly had $1bn in debt. Sources: BBC, CBC, CNN and Sky News.
Tesla up 4,000% over decade
Monday was the 10th anniversary of the electric carmaker Tesla’s IPO. Its stock price has risen from $17 to $1,009 per share. Sources: Bloomberg, CNBC and Marketwatch.
Tiktok banned in India
The Indian government banned Tiktok, Wechat and 57 other Chinese-made mobile apps on data privacy and national security grounds. Sources: BBC, CNBC, Deutsche Welle and Economic Times.
Francois and Penelope Fillon convicted for “fake jobs”
A former French prime minister, François Fillon, and his wife, Penelope, were found guilty of embezzling more than €1m by creating inexistent jobs as parliamentary assistants for her and their children. Sources: AFP, BBC, Bloomberg, Deutsche Welle and The Guardian.
Agenda
Tuesday 30 June, 4pm-6:30pm: Stibbe law firm’s “Cloud computing in the financial sector” webinar. Tuesday 30 June, 6pm-7pm: Xavier Bettel, Luxembourg’s prime minister, is one of three out world leaders on an covid-19 and LGBTI equality roundtable hosted by the Atlantic Council, a US thinktank, via Zoom. Thursday 2 July, 12noon-2pm: House of Entrepreneurship’s inbound digital marketing techniques online workshop. Thursday 2 July, 1:30pm-3pm: Luxembourg directors institute (ILA) and Women in Digital Empowerment’s “Leading strategic corporate sustainability” training webinar. Monday 6-Tuesday 7 July: University of Luxembourg’s “Management of future motorway and urban traffic systems” online symposium. Thursday 9 July, 1:30pm-2:30pm: Paperjam Club hosts training webinar on new transfer pricing guidelines.
Uncredited roles
The country music star Dolly Parton was secretly one of the executive producers of the cult TV shows “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “Angel”, per the Independent.
Today’s breakfast briefing was written by Aaron Grunwald