Global coronavirus milestone
There have been more 30m covid-19 cases worldwide, as of Thursday, including more than 940,000 fatalities. The US, India and Brazil have been the hardest hit. Sources: BBC, The Guardian and Johns Hopkins University.
WHO Europe warning
The head of the World Health Organization in Europe, Hans Kluge, said on Thursday that transmission of the coronavirus had reached “alarming rates” in the region. “Weekly cases have now exceeded those reported when the pandemic first peaked in Europe in March.” There were more than 300,000 cases last week in the 53-country region. A majority of countries reported an increase in excess of 10% over the past two weeks. Spain, France and the UK have the most infections. Kluge warned countries against shortening quarantine periods. Sources: CNBC, Deutsche Welle, France 24 and The Guardian (video).
Latest Luxembourg coronavirus cases
147 people in the grand duchy were positive for covid-19 out of the 8,951 PCR tests conducted on Wednesday. That was the highest daily number since 26 March (when cross-border commuters were still included in the tally). The figure was 110 on Tuesday. Sources: Health ministry and Paperjam.
Luxair revenue was down by €20m in July
The number of passengers on Luxair flights in July and August were 70% lower than last year, the airline’s CEO said. It had 60% fewer package holiday customers in July and 45.5% fewer in August. The carrier will hold talks in October with labour leaders and the government about possible staff restructuring. Sources: 100,7 and Paperjam.
SES staff restructuring
About 50 staff members will leave the Betzdorf-based satellite operator SES, either through early retirement or a redundancy scheme. SES will hire roughly 100 new employees, its CEO said. Source: 100,7.
Suez selling Lux operations
The French utility Suez is reportedly in talks to sell its waste management business in Luxembourg, Germany, the Netherlands and Poland to Prezero, a unit of Germany’s Schwartz Group. Suez is currently fighting a takeover attempt by its rival Veolia. Sources: Bloomberg, Paperjam, Reuters and Seeking Alpha.
Messi can trademark his name
The Argentine football player Lionel Messi won a 9-year legal battle this week, when the European Court of Justice ruled that he could receive intellectual property protection for his surname. Sources: BBC, Euronews and Sky News.
Spanish banking tie-up
Two of Spain’s largest financial institutions, CaixaBank and Bankia, have agreed to merge. The combined bank will be Spain’s largest, with assets of more than €650bn. Sources: Bloomberg, Financial Times and Reuters.
Novichok allegedly found on Navalny’s water bottle
Aids to the Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny claimed to have found traces of the Novichok nerve gas on a water bottle Navalny used in his hotel room in Siberia. Previously they suspected him of being poisoned at an airport. Sources: BBC, Deutsche Welle, The Guardian and Reuters.
West coast insurance costs
Damage from this month’s wildfires on America’s west coast could cost insurers $5bn-$8bn in claims. Sources: Claims Journal, Deutsche Welle and the Independent.
Agenda
Wednesday 23 September-Thursday 24 September: Infrachain’s blockchain hackathon. Wednesday 23 September, 12noon-1pm: Delano Live Chat on sustainable funds with Denise Voss of Luxflag. Thursday 24 September, 6pm: Luxembourg-Poland Chamber of Commerce’s monthly meetup.
Here are 5 financial sector stories you may have missed
Money managers: Goldman Sachs found that female-managed investment funds have outperformed male-led funds in the US the first 8 months of this year, per Marketwatch. Market snapshots: “Luxembourg among biggest winners from Brexit”, “Shake-up at Luxembourg’s Qatar-owned Quintet bank” and “Luxembourg strengthens status as offshore renminbi centre” were 3 of the stories in the 5-page “Luxembourg as a Financial Centre” special report published by the Financial Times on Monday. Regulation: Fund executives pushed backed on an EU regulator’s call for stricter rules on where senior officials are geographically located, during an Association of the Luxembourg Fund Industry conference this week, per Reuters.
Here are 4 science & technology stories you may have missed
Animals: Bottlenose dolphins teach each other how to shell giant snails, per Science magazine. Astrobiology: Researchers reckon that clusters of microbes can survive the trip between Mars and Earth, per Popular Science. Astronomy: Nasa scientists were surprised to find rust, which forms when iron is exposed to oxygen and water, on the moon, per Space.com. Materials science: An Australian software company is building a 40 story “hybrid timber” tower, per Popular Mechanics.
Tesla driver caught napping
Police in Canada have fined a driver who was fully reclined and sleeping while driving a Tesla in “Autopilot” mode (which is not fully automatic). Officers claimed to have clocked him at 140km/h and then 150km/h (in a 110km/h zone). Sources: CBC, The Guardian and Sky News.
Vacation property, anyone?
Three 150-year-old island fortresses off the coast of Portsmouth, in southern England, were put on the market for £9m (roughly €10m), per the BBC.
Today’s breakfast briefing was written by Aaron Grunwald