RTL revises plans
RTL group, which is located in Luxembourg, has abandoned plans to shift activities from Luxembourg to Belgium to benefit from state aid, two months after first announcing the project. The Wallonia-Brussels Federal aid would have amounted to €28m, just 80% of the targeted financing sought by the firm to combat losses linked to the pandemic, according to Le Soir.
Prince baptism
Luxembourg’s Prince Charles was baptised on Saturday in a private ceremony at Clervaux abbey. Born 10 May, Charles is the son of Grand Ducal heir Prince Guillaume and Princess Stéphanie. Monarchie.lu
Infection rate
Luxembourg announced 103 positive infections of covid-19 on Sunday, up from 86 on Saturday but down from 177 on Friday and 147 on Thursday. Sunday’s rate was equivalent to 16.45 for every 100,000 residents. On Friday, there were 18 people in hospital, of which one person was in intensive care. Government health figures. French cases, meanwhile, rose by 10,000 and there were protests on Sunday in Madrid over strict new local lockdown measures.
The Guardian has this primer on how countries prepared for a second wave of the virus.
SkodaTour de Luxembourg
Italian Diego Ulissi won the eightieth edition of the SkodaTour de Luxembourg on Saturday and Danish rider Andreas Kron won the final stage. The stage was marred by a collision with a lorry parked on the roadside, one of a number of incidents in which traffic upstaged the rescheduled race. On Wednesday riders stopped in protest over safety concerns.
Biodiversity appeal
Some 560 companies have thrown their support behind calls for tougher government action to reverse the destruction of the natural world. Walmart, Citigroup and Microsoft were among the firms that signed a statement calling for urgent action. The plea comes ahead of a United Nations biodiversity summit scheduled for later this month. Reuters.
Financial movements
HSBC Holdings Plc HSBA.L, JP Morgan Chase & Co JPM.N, Deutsche Bank AG DBKGn.DE, Standard Chartered Plc STAN.L and Bank of New York Mellon Corp BKnN have been named among a list of global banks that moved large sums of allegedly illicit funds over 20 years, despite the money’s dubious origins. The 2,100 incidents were based on suspicious activity reports filed by banks and other financial firms with the US Department of Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. Altogether they total around $2 trillion worth of transactions flagged by compliance departments as suspicious. Reuters.
EU tackles big tech
The EU wants greater powers to break up technology giants or force them to sell some off their European operations if market dominance threatens customer interests. Brussels is also considering a rating system allowing public stakeholders to asses companies’ behaviour in relation to tax compliance and removal of illegal content. Financial Times.
Death of a titan
The death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Friday from complications related to pancreatic cancer has left Democrats concerned ahead of the next presidential election. If current president Donald Trump installs a conservative replacement and a legal battle over the 3 November election reaches the high court, the new justice could sway the decision in favour of the president. NPR, Reuters, the Conversation, the Guardian.
London rents
London landlords are lowering rents on private properties by up to 20% as tenants leave the capital and international student numbers fall. Estate agents say rents in the capital are down on average 4% compared to 2019 and in prime areas they fell 7%. Across Britain, demand for rents was down 23%, according to estate agents Hamptons. The Guardian.
Agenda
On Monday, Luxembourg foreign affairs minister Jean Asselborn will participate in the EU foreign affairs council meeting in Brussels. Up for discussion will be China and Hong kong, Turkey, the escalation of the eastern Mediterranean region and human rights in Russia following the poisoning of Alexëi Navalny. Government statement.
Don’t miss LuxFlag’s Denise Voss in conversation with Delano’s Aaron Grunwald for the next Delano Live Chat on 23 September.
On 24 September, the Luxembourg-Poland Chamber of Commerce hosts its monthly networking gathering and this weekend sporty people can raise money for good causes by taking part in the virtual Race for the Cure or Lëtz Go Gold, which is a hybrid online and physical event in Kockelscheuer.
Today’s breakfast briefing was written by Jess Bauldry