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THE CATHOLIC CHURCH EXPLAINS…

The Catholic Church here has responded to demands for openness over child abuse.  Not much is known about any cases involving catholic clergy here, but in an interview with RTL, General Vicar Schiltz explained a little more.  He said there had been cases of children being abused, but these hardly reached double figures in the last decade.  He admitted that three priests had been jailed for abuse in the 1950s and 60’s, but in other cases were there was suspicion of abuse, the clerics involved were removed from Luxembourg and sent to work where they would have no contact with children.  But his comments did not satisfy critics, who say that anyone suspected of abuse should be subject to a criminal investigation.  And over the week-end a man claiming to have been the victim of sexual abuse in the 1960’s has come forward and spoken to the press.

FATAL LEAP

A man died on Friday morning after jumping off a bridge.  He parked his car on the bypass at Ingeldorf on the N7 before jumping onto the road below.  He was also run over as he lay in the road.  The driver of the car which ran him over has had to be treated for shock.  The man was pronounced dead at the scene of the incident.

LSAP CONGRESS

The LSAP is holding its party convention in Roodt sur Syr.  In the run up to the tripartite negotitations, the left leaning party is setting out its position.  LSAP President Alex Bodry said any economies needed to balance the government books must be distributed fairly.  He reaffirmed the LSAP’s commitment to a strong social component in economic management and warned against losing sight of this in times of hardship.  In his speech, foreign minister Jean Asselborn blamed the banks for the recession.

THE AMBULANCEMAN’S TALE : PART 3

State prosecutors have now appealed against the acquittal of an ambulanceman who was booked for speeding in his car while on his way to his station to answer an emergency last year.  The man was originally convicted, then acquitted, and now prosecutors want to try again.  The case has provoked heated debate about the competences and remit of volunteer rescue service personnel.

ANY EXCUSE FOR A PARTY

There were canival parades in three local towns over the week-end.  The reason this time is that we are apparently half way through the period of lent.  To mark the occasion, Remich, Petange and Wasserbillig held cavalcades.  All three towns were taken over by revellers for the whole of the afternoon and evening.

SPRING CLEAN AT CATTENOM

EDF is conducting maintainace and cleaning work on one of the nuclear reactors at Cattenom.  The reactor will be offline for the period of the work.  About a third of its fuel rods need to be replaced.  There are four reactors at Cattenom in all and it generates 8% of France’s electricity needs.

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NEW STADIUM ROW

Economics minister Jeannot Krecké has defended the new stadium project in Livange in the face of criticism from Luxembourg council.  Luxembourg City council and the Green Party are concerned the building of the new shopping centre could have a negative impact on retailers and the environment.  Mr Krecké says the development means the country gets a new stadium without spending a cent by the taxpayer, and the site is ideally located near the motorway, and eventually will have its own railway station.   Mr Krecké also thinks the development could create up to 500 new jobs and tax revenues for the government.  And finally he rejects the idea that there isn’t enough consumer demand here for another shopping mall by saying that you only have to count the number of Luxembourg registered cars parked at some of the malls in France, Germany and Belgium.

YVES MERSCH SPEAKS ON BUDGET

Central bank director Yves Mersch has warned the government against trying to plug gaps in its budget by raising taxes.  He says the construction, retail and financial sectors are all still too weak to withstand the extra costs.  Mr Mersch also says that extra taxes would probably result in redundancies and an even bigger long term government deficit.  He also says that the economic growth levels of the past are unlikely to return and government is going to have to get used to tailoring its spending to its revenues, rather than trying to extract revenue to fit the desired spending level.

LONG PRISON SENTENCE

A man has been given an 18 year prison sentence for abusing and raping his two daughters over a period of several years.  They were 8 and 10 when their father’s assaults started.  He was discovered when the girls told one of his girlfriends about him.  He blamed his alcoholism for his crimes.  His own defence lawyer admitted to the court even he had problems finding anything positive to say about his client.

WILD ANIMAL PROBLEMS

There have been a string of accidents involving wild animals this week on the roads of Luxembourg.  The long harsh winter seems to be driving game out of the forest in search of food and shelter.  The police want to remind drivers to slow down when they see the hazard signs for wild animals or hunting and try to keep an eye on the edges of the road. 

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FATAL SHOOTING UPDATE

Belgian paper L’Avenir says there were three Luxembourg police officers pursuing the Belgian robber who was shot dead last week.  The paper also reveals that the police fired no less than 6 times at the dead man.  The report also claims that the police only fired after the dead man went for the gun he was carrying.  L’Avenir also reports that the chief prosecutor in Arlon remains convinced that the police acted legally in killing the man, following the holding of a reconstruction of the events earlier this week.

POLICE CONGRESS

The police are holding their annual congress in Hesperange and the shooting in Arlon has provoked much debate.  The police association, the SNPGL, has drafted a set of reforms for the law covering the use of weapons.  It’s 40 years since the legislation was passed and the SNPGL say it isn’t adequate in the modern era.  The SNPGL also says it is supporting the three officers involved in the shooting incident.

INFLATION REPORT

Prices rose by 1.2% in February, bring the rate of inflation for the last 12 months up to 1.5%.  Statec, the national statistics bureau, says prices are back to normal following a sharp fall in January because of the sales.  Sectors which saw prices up the most were shoes and furniture, both of which were heavily discounted during the sales. 

BIG DRUGS HAUL

Police with sniffer dogs found over 300 grammes of heroin and nearly 1000 ecstasy tablets in a delivery truck.  They stopped the vehicle on the A4 motorway near Steinfort.  It’s thought its driver, who comes from France, had already made several previous trips to deliver drugs.  The drugs and van have been confiscated and its driver is now under arrest.

SES ASTRA AND LUX UNI

SES Astra have signed a partnership agreement with Luxembourg University.  They are going to help create a centre of excellence for advanced information technology.  The satellite operator will also help create a chair in satellite, media and telecoms law.  A budget of 1 500 000 euros will be provided by SES.

LIWANGE DEVELOPMENT

The Green Party has demanded special sessions of the sustainability and commerce commissions to discuss the planned commercial development at Livange.  They want to hear from ministers more about how the development is being fundedand its impact on local small and medium sized retailers.  Their demands come after Luxembourg City Council said the 75 000 square meter development posed a threat to the retail trade in both the capital and the south of the country.  The council also said the government was using the enticement of a new national football stadium financed by the retail park to force the development through.  Luxembourg City mayor, Paul Helminger, added his voice to the criticisms, saying he supported a replacement for the Josy Barthel stadium, but didn’t think there was sufficient consumer demand for yet another giant retail development here.

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ARLON SHOOTING RECONSTRUCTION

Forensic experts have reconstructed the events leading up to the fatal shooting of a Belgian robber by a Luxembourg officer last week.  The motorway was blocked in both directions just over the border near Arlon while the reconstruction was carried out late on Monday night.  The man who died was being pursued by police following a raid on a jewellery shop in Oberpallen.  A gun was found near the dead man, which Belgian media reports say he was aiming at police when he died.

FATAL WORK ACCIDENT

A construction worker died yesterday afternoon in Steinsel when he got trapped between a truck and a mechanical excavator.  He was working on improvements to the Rue de Soleil at the time of his death.  The 49 year old from Petange died from his injuries at the scene of the accident.  And a sailor on a Dutch barge lost his finger yesterday when trying to weigh anchor on the River Mosel.  He trapped it in the winch holding the anchor chain

GREENPEACE DAMAGES

Greenpeace says it won’t appeal against the damages of €91 000 awarded against it by a court in Esch.  Greenpeace must pay the money to ExxonMobil in lieu of lost earnings when they blockaded the company’s filling stations in the Grand Duchy in 2002.  Greenpeace director Paul Delaunois said his organisation took a risk and were happy to take the consequences.   He also feels that he stands little chance of getting the judgement changed in a higher court.  Nevetheless, he feels the damages are out of proportion to the actual losses suffered by the oil company because of the protest.

ANGELA MERKEL

The German Chancellor, Angela Merkel was in Luxembourg yesterday.  She was here at the invitation of Prime Minister Juncker and was treated to a full state welcome with military honours.  Both leaders were at pains to stress the good relationship between Luxembourg and its giant neighbour, which was marred last year by a spat over banking secrecy.  The leaders discussions focussed on energy and transport.  Luxembourg may Germany to develop a wind farm in the North Sea.  Mrs Merkel also had an audience with the Grand Duke and meetings at the European Court.

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CGFP NOT WORRIED ABOUT DEBT

The sparring in the run-up to the tripartite negotiations continued yesterday with public sector union, the CGFP, saying there was no need for panic measures.  The CGFP is worried that its members will bear the brunt of public spending cuts needed to get state finances back on track.  The union urged the government to look at the relative position of national finances here – the budget deficit here is expected to reach 4.4% this year, above the agreed ceiling for EU states, but much lower than other countries in the Euro.  And overall national debt, at 14% of GDP is one of the smallest in the developed world.  The CGFP says the private sector is whipping up hysteria over public debt in a bid to beat down the public sector.

SCHOOL REFORM

The set of working proposals for the reform of secondary education was presented at the Athenaeum yesterday.  Debate over the reforms is expected to last for about 2 years.  It’s the first reform of secondary education here since the 1960s.  The philosophy behind the proposals is to make secondary education more flexible.  One proposal is to upgrade the amount of English taught, possibly at the expense of the amount of Latin taught at the moment.

REPEAT OFFENDER

A man convicted of a string of motoring offenses could now be on his way to prison.  He was picked up in Grevenmacher on Sunday by a regular traffic control.  He has never had a driving license and is currently subject to a ban on driving for the next 32 years.  The police have arrested him and prosecutors are preparing charges which could lead to prison.

DOG ATTACKS COP

A policeman from Troisvierges is off sick after being bitten by a dog.  The boxer dog stormed out of the house when its owner opened the door to the officer and a colleague.  The officer initially managed to kick the dog away, but it came back for a second bite and caught hold of him under the arm.  In the struggle, the police officer fell over a flower pot and down a flight of stairs.  Eventually his colleague and the dog’s owner were able to get it under control and back in the house.  The officer had to be treated in hospital for the injuries caused by the dog.

PEDIGREE CHICKENS

There were a string of commercially targeted thefts over the week-end.  Thieves took a pneumatic drill and three shovels for mechanical excavators from a building site in Windhof.  An electric cable for a crane was stolen in Junglinster.  Thieves also broke into portacabins on site in Livange and made off with a range of tools.  And finally, undeterred by a barbed wire fence, someone stole two pedigree chickens from their coop in Consdorf.

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JUNKCER – THINGS MUST CHANGE

Prime Minister Jean Claude Juncker says the state needs to make savings of 1.6 billion Euros if it is to start balancing its books.  He made his comments in the run up to the tripartite negotiations between the government, business and unions.  Mr Juncker said he wasn’t going to spoil Luxembourg’s comfortable way of life, but that revisions are going to have to be made.  He also said that Employment Minister Nicolas Schmit will announce a range of new measures when the tripartite negotiations start on the 17^th. 

ESCH KAVALKADE

Esch sur Alzette hosted its annual Kavalkade event yesterday.  Over 1 000 people took part in the three kilometre long cortege of fun and nonsense.  This year is the ninth holding of the event, which lasts well into the evening on the town square.  It’s organised by Esch council in conjunction with the city’s tourist office.

PLACE D’ARMES FIRE

Firefighters had to use ladders to evacuate residents from an apartment block on the Place d’Armes which caught fire yesterday.  The blaze broke out in a room on the third floor.  The fire service was able to bring under control quickly, but its location meant that ladders had to be used to evacuate the people inside.  Several people had to be treated for smoke inhalation but there were no serious injuries.

RELAIS POUR LA VIE

Over 8 000 people took part in the Relais pour la Vie at the Coque sports centre this week-end.  The event raises funds and awareness for local people affected by cancer.  Fundraisers formed 213 teams which walked and ran around the athletics track.  Around half the teams kept going for 12 hours, the rest for a full 24.  As well as the relays, there were workshops, information stalls and other activities at the event.

LUX UNI OPEN DAY

Luxembourg university is holding an open day on the 20^th of this month.  Prospective students and the friends and relatives can go along to check the courses and facilities on offer.  There’ll also be people on hand to answer questions about financing a degree here and how to get accommodation.  Both the campuses in Limpertsberg and Walferdange will be open on the 20^th from 10 til 4.

TRIER TRAIN TRACK

German railways have cancelled  a planned upgrade to the track connecting Trier and Luxembourg.  19 million euros had been set aside to build a second track on the stretch between Irrel and Trier.  At the moment this is a single track section.   But the Trier Volksfreund newspaper has learned that it has been struck of a list of priority projects by the German transport ministry.  The upgrades will not now be considered again before 2020.

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ARLON SHOOTING

According to the Belgian media, the robber shot dead by Luxembourg police in Belgium on Wednesday was taking aim at them when he died.  This may explain why the Arlon state prosecutor hasn’t launched a criminal enquiry into the police officer responsible.  Investigators in Arlon are refusing to confirm the type of gun found near the dead robber, nor if it had been fired.  On Wednesday a court in Namur continued to prosecute the dead man for a different crime, oblivious to the fact he’d been shot.

POWER CUT

An explosion at a Creos plant cut the electicity supply to over a dozen towns and villages in the south of Luxembourg.   The blast was caused by a faulty capacitor at Shifflange.  This knocked out the grid linking much of the Minette.  Luckily there are backup facilities and Creos got the power back within half an hour.  The power cut caused only minor problems, with one person stuck in a lift, and RTL radio going off the air for a while.

AWACS BACK

Nato’s AWACS planes are back on exercise at Findel airport.  The ultra loud surveillance planes are normally based in Germany, but occasionally come here to rolling landings and take offs.  These are about the noisiest things the planes can do, especially considering they are already far louder than civilian planes.  The planes can be recognised by the distinctive radar dish on their fusillage. 

MYSTERY GUN ATTACK

An unknown man appeared to fire a pistol at a car in the Avenue de la Gare at 4 o’clock yesterday morning.  The two occupants of the target vehicle were unharmed after the attack.  The gunman sped off in the direction of the centre of town.  Police were unable to find any trace of bullets or bullet holes in the car or surrounding buildings.  Police were unable either to trace the gunman’s car, which was a black Audi using false registration plates.

DEATH WISH BIKER

Police lost track of a biker they were pursuing in Greiveldange in the early hours of yesterday morning.  They’d spotted him riding erratically a little earlier, but were unable to keep up with him on the twisting roads which lead through the vinyards.  So they retraced their steps, only to find the man lying in a vineyard ditch with his crashed motorbike.  He wasn’t badly hurt, but at the station the police discovered he was drunk, subject to a driving ban and had borrowed the bike from his mate. 

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ROBBER SHOT DEAD

A Belgian state prosecutor has provisionally cleared a Luxembourg policeman in connection with the death of a robber.  The policeman shot the burglar dead in the early hours of yesterday morning by the motorway near Arlon.  The dead man was a 30 year old Belgian with a long criminal record.  He was known to sometimes carry guns and Belgian investigators have recovered a weapon near the scene of his death.  They are still looking for the dead man’s accomplices.  The robbers had raided a jeweller’s in Oberpallen before fleeing in a getaway car.  They crashed through a road block before coming to a halt on the motorway with a flat tyre.  They tried to continue on foot which was when the police caught up with them and the man was shot dead.  Investigations are still going on in Belgium and legal experts say it is not clear if police officers may use lethal force when they are outside their own countries, even when in hot pursuit and in peril.

ROAD DEATH

A 19 year old died yesterday afternoon on the road between Diekirch and Manternach.  He lost control of his car and collided with a bus.  The impact of the collision threw both vehicles across the road.  A second car then ploughed into the wreckage of the first.  The bus driver, one passenger and the driver of the second car were all injured in the accident.

BLAZE IN LIMPERTSBERG

A former school in the Avenue Pasteur in Limpertsberg went up in flames yesterday.  The fire caused substantial damage to the building near the Lycée Technique du Centre and it will now have to be demolished.  The building was empty when the fire started at around midday.  The fire service is investigating the cause of the blaze.  They think it could have been started by children or homeless people.

COCAINE COP

Four people are being investigated in connection with drug dealing in Lintgen.  A dealer and two customers were arrested while in the act of dealing cocaine at the station.  The man who drove the customers to their pusher has also been arrested.  When not helping his friends score drugs, he has a day job as a policeman.  He has been immediately suspended from the police service pending further investigations.   

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PUBLIC SECTOR PAY ROW

Justice minister Francois Biltgen has been backpedalling furiously after one of his colleagues let the cat out of the bag concerning the government’s plans for reforming public sector pay.  Francoise Hetto-Gaasch, who is minister for the middle classes, said on Monday that starting salaries for civil servants would definitely be cut in order to bring them into line with the private sector.  Up to this point Prime Minister Juncker has only talked about a factfinding exercise on the subject, mindful of the need to keep his coalition government on board.  The junior party, the LSAP, is in principle opposed to public sector pay cuts.  Yesterday Mr Biltgen was wheeled out to clarify his colleague’s comments.  He said the government was in talks with public sector unions and would not prejudge the outcome of these negotiations with regard to pay.

RELAIS POUR LA VIE

This week-end sees the fifth running of the Relais Pour La Vie event at the Coque.  Relay teams try to keep going round the track there for either 24 or 12 hours.  The event is to raise money and awareness for local people suffering with cancer.  Some of the teams will even feature local celebrities, with one team being made up from government ministers. 

GERMAN PENSIONERS FINED

2 Pensioners from Germany have been caught trying to take €20 000 in cash out of Luxembourg.   They were picked by a routine German customs control in Merzig.  They had hidden most of the money under the battery of their car.  They were able to pay the fines and duties extracted by the customs officers on the spot. 

P+R SUD EXTENDED

Luxembourg council has extended the Southern Park and Ride at Howald.  In recent years it has nearly always been full to capacity.  An extra 133 parking spaces are available starting today, bringing the total there to nearly 900.   The Park and Ride will continue to be served by the 22 bus every 10 minutes or so.

31 GRENADES

The Army bomb disposal team removedno less than 31 grenades from a building site on Monday.  All dated from the second world war and belonged to the Wehrmacht.  They were lying buried in the ground in Berdorf.  Echternach police have now closed the building site and an expert survey is underway because there are fears of more weapons being buried on the site.

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DP SAVINGS DRIVE

The opposition Democratic Party says it wants to hear from voters how they would save money for the government.  The head of the parliamentary DP, Xavier Bettel, says citizens can fill in suggestion cards or submit their ideas online.  The DP will then present the suggestions to the government ahead of the tripartite negotiations, even if the suggestions don’t chime with the broadly liberal policies of the DP. 

STUDENT DEATH

A 29 year old man is in custody in connection with the death of a student in Trier last summer.  The 20 year old woman was found dead in her apartment last June, and the man arrested is her former boyfriend.  Prosecutors say the man allowed the woman to take a lethal dose of drug following an argument, and made no effort to prevent her.    He also failed to call emergency services after she fell into a coma, when she could have still been saved.  He is charged with causing death by neglect.

PUBLIC SECTOR VS PRIVATE SECTOR

The CGFP public sector union has accused the industrial association FEDIL of stirring up trouble.  Fedil has recently been campaigning for a reduction in red tape and government oversight, which they say is costly for both the taxpayer and companies.  The CGFP points to a recent survey which shows that 65% of citizens consider the civil service here either good or very good.  The CGFP says Fedil’s aim is to undermine the traditional Luxembourg social model by spreading discontent with the public sector.  And they take the government to task for not making more of the positive findings of the EU survey.

RADIO JAMMER APPEALS

The appeal of a man convicted of jamming emergency radio signals has started in Trier.  His activity prevented the Luxembourg Air Rescue helicopter arriving more quickly on several occasions and he was convicted last year of causing actual bodily harm.  The man was the head of the volunteer rescue services in Saarburg, and he jammed the emergency radio in a bid to stop the Air Rescue taking over some of his.  He was given a two year probation at his first trial.

GËLLE FRA

The mayor of Bascharage wants to extend the holiday of Luxembourg’s Golden Lady, or Gëlle Fra.  The statue, which normally looks out over the Petrusse valley from a pillar on the Boulevard Franklin, is off to the Shanghai World Fair this summer.  But Bascharage Mayor Michel Wolter reckons that she would also enjoy a spell in his town at the end of her trip.  The sculptor who made the Gëlle Fra, Claus Cito, was born in Bascharage.  A request for a temporary display of the statue has been already sent to the ministry of culture.