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European Central Bank president Mario Draghi, pictured, announced on Thursday fresh stimulus measures to prevent the eurozone sliding into recession. Photo: Shutterstock 

ECB package

The European Central Bank on Thursday announced a new stimulus package with an interest rate cut and plans to inject €20bn a month into the financial markets. Outgoing president Mario Draghi called on the financially strongest eurozone nations to support growth by loosening purse strings to prevent the eurozone from sliding into recession. More from Reuters, the Financial Times (paywall), and The Guardian, who also reported on US president Donald Trump’s response to the package here.  

Juncker on von der Leyen

European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker is clearly not planning to leave office quietly. In an interview published Thursday by euronews, he rebuked his successor, Ursula von der Leyen, for using the expression “protecting our European way of life” as a portfolio title. Juncker was quoted as saying he was not comfortable with the idea that the “European way of life is opposed to migration. Accepting those that come from far away is part of the European way of life.” He also branded Britons “part-time Europeans”.

The rain in Spain

Two siblings were killed when their car was overturned in flood water caused by torrential rain in Spain on Thursday. According to Reuters, in the Valencia region, two rivers burst their banks. Severe weather warnings were issued for Friday in southeastern Spain. More on this story from BBC news and Euronews.

Deutsche Bank settles lawsuit

Deutsche Bank is to pay $15m to settle claims by investors it rigged prices of bonds issued by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. It is the first of 16 companies to settle after the civil case began last year following an announcement that the Department of justice had opened a criminal probe. More from Euronews, Reuters and the Financial Times (paywall).

Google losses and victories

Google agreed to pay a further €465m to the French tax administration, bringing its settlement to almost €1 billion. Google said in a statement it had put an end to the tax disputes with France. More on this story from Reuters. It wasn’t all bad news for the tech giant. Reuters reports Google won a legal battle in Germany after Europe’s biggest court said publishers in Germany could not claim copyright fees from the firm since 2013. A consortium of publishers was demanding €1 billion from Google-owned Alphabet in copyright fees for using their news excerpts without paying the source. Read about it on Reuters, and Euronews.

Drilling in protected Arctic region

The Trump administration is to allow oil and gas drilling in part of an Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, which is home to threatened polar bears. It’s not only wildlife that stands to lose--if fully exploited, the area could put up to 5 million metric tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, says The Guardian.

Ig Nobel prizes

French fertility specialist Roger Mieusset was awarded the Ig Nobel prize after recruiting French postmen to find out if a man’s testicles are both the same temperature, The Guardian reports. According to his studies, the left one is warmer, but only when a man is fully dressed. The annual prize honours work that makes people laugh and then think.

Coming up

The European Cubesat symposium closes in Luxembourg on Friday but the festivities are just beginning. On Friday, the Confucius Institute in Belval will organise a Chinese mid-Autumn Festival. On Saturday, electronic music fans can check out the all new Luxembourg Open Air Festival in place de l’Europe (Luxembourg-Kirchberg) and on Sunday Place Guillaume II will experience a real Indian summer with stands and activities to mark India Day 2019. All these and more can be found on the Delano online agenda.

 

Today’s breakfast briefing was written by Jess Bauldry