Trump slams whistleblower as new evidence emerges
The White House tried to “lock down” evidence of president Donald Trump’s call to Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Reuters reports. A report released by a Democratic-led congressional committee claims the transcript of the call was loaded into a system “used to store and handle classified information of an especially sensitive nature.” The Guardian has the whistleblower’s complaint in full. The BBC interviewed Americans to get reaction to the impeachment inquiry. CNBC says Trump has compared the sources of the whistleblower complaint to spies and suggested they committed “treason”. And Fox says that Republicans are pushing to identify the sources and investigate whether those who leaked the classified information to the whistleblower may have committed crimes.
Tributes for Jacques Chirac
Euronews has summarised some of the tributes to Jacques Chirac, whose death at the age of 86 was announced on Thursday. Emmanuel Macron said Chirac, who was president from 1995 to 2007, “carried a love for France all his life.” Other tributes came from Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo (Chirac was a three-time mayor of the French capital), Liberian president and former Paris Saint-Germain footballer George Weah, and former Swedish prime minister Carl Bildt. Luxembourg City mayor Lydie Polfer said she had been honoured to be friends with Chirac for 37 years and that the world had lost a man with heart. European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker also called Chirac a good friend, while the grand duke and grand duchess sent a telegram to Chirac’s widow, Bernadette, saying the former president had been a loyal friend of Luxembourg. The Guardian has a nice gallery of Chirac’s life in pictures. Rather different views of Chirac can be found in obituaries by France24 and Politico.
UK: inflammatory rhetoric controversy rages
British prime minister Boris Johnson on Thursday refused to apologise over what many have called the inflammatory rhetoric he used in parliament on Wednesday, The Irish Times reports. Johnson’s senior advisor, Dominic Cummings, has suggested that the issue of threats and abuse against MPs will only be solved if they “respect” the result of the EU referendum, according to The Guardian. And a man was arrested outside Labour MP Jess Philipps’ office as he banged on her window and shouted “fascist”, Sky News reports.
Facebook to trial “likes” privacy
Social media giant Facebook is going to experiment with making “likes” private and only visible to the author of a post on the platform, The Guardian reports. The move is aimed at improving well-being and cutting down on bullying, It will start in Australia today.
Delta buys into Latin American carrier
Reuters reports that Delta Air Lines has bought a $1.9 billion, 20% stake in LATAM Airlines Group, Latin America’s largest carrier. CNBC says the move is a “twist for American Airlines” which is a code-share partner of LATAM and had been pursuing a joint-venture agreement with the Chilean based airline.
Later today:
12 pm: Déi Lénk has called for local residents to stage a protest against the planned closure of the Bonnevoie post office outside the building at 1 rue August Charles. 3 pm:United for Climate Justice protestors will march from 4 starting points--the city train station, the Forum Geeseknäppchen, the Lycée des Garçons and Place de l’Europe--to gather at the place Clairefontaine.
Something for the weekend:
Saturday: If fado is your thing, then check out Portuguese star Ana Moura at the Philharmonie. For something more sporty, support Rugby Club Luxembourg in their Bundesliga double header. Saturday & Sunday: Get your game on at the Luxembourg Gaming Xperience at Luxexpo. Explore the Urban History Festival at the City Museum and venues around the rue du St. Esprit. Buy Luxembourg design products and services at De Lokale Maart at Rotondes. Head to Fond-de-Gras, the perfect setting for the annual steam-punk convention. Sunday: brave the weather to cheer on runners at the ING Route du Vin half-marathon along the Moselle.
Scream-free flying
Japan airlines has introduced a feature to its seat-booking system that will allow customers to avoid sitting near fellow passengers travelling with children under 2, the BBC reports. Needless to say, the move has sparked lively social media debate.
Today's breakfast briefing was written by Duncan Roberts