22nd August 2019

FATAL ACCIDENT

A 58 ytear old man lost his life when his car came of the road yesterday evening between Grevenmacher and Oberdonven.  It seems his car left the road for unknown reasons, and proceeded at speed across a field for around 100m before coming to a stop in a wood.  The driver was already dead when emergency services arrived.     

WORK ACCIDENT SEASON UNDERWAY

A workman was seriously injured in an accident at Hamm yesterday.  He was at the depot of a construction company when he slipped and his leg became entangled in a machine used to crush rocks.  Also yesterday an excavator in Bonnevoie dropped a pair of heavy steel plates onto the back of a car it was following.  A young child in the back of the car luckily sustained only minor injuries. 

NDRANGHETA SUSPECT STILL HERE

A man arrested last week as part of an international operation against an Italian organised crime group is still in custody here.  Santo Rumbo from Soleuvre  was one of nearly 30 people picked up in Italy and other European countries on suspicion of being part of the Ndrangheta from Calabria.  An extradition order from Italian authorities was granted last Friday by a court here, but he has appealed.  Investigators here are now also looking into a cafe and a drinks wholesale business which he was involved with in Differdange.  

RECYCLING DATA

Luxembourg exports nearly half of its recyclable waste, according to the government.  The Grand Duchy does manage to reprocess all its biodegradable waste itself, either into compost or at biomethane plants.  But paper and cardboard are sent to plants in other countries, as are recyclable plastics and electrical goods after being sorted here.  Glass and textiles are sent directly to reprocessing plants elsewhere.  The statement yesteday does not reveal where these reprocessing centres are located.   

ULC

The Luxembourg Consumers Association says it is extremely concerned that the country is becoming a cashless economy.  In particular, the ULC is worried that EU anti-terrorism and anti-money laundering directives could make it normal for retailers to refuse payment in larger denomination banknotes.  They point to new rules in other EU countries which now make it illegal to pay sums over a certain limit in cash.  In France the limit is just €1000.  The ULC believes, in a nutshell, that the right to pay in cash is a basic democratic one, and attempts to abolish it are a social engineering project to the detriment of the socially disadvantaged and elderly.