Five stories you may have missed
In case you missed them, the Luxembourg Times has selected five top news stories of the week for you
A Vega rocket launched in September from French Guiana carrying a Luxembourg satellite Photo: AFP
Brexit deal still possible, head of Eurogroup says
There is still enough time for the EU and the UK to strike and ratify a deal about their future relation three weeks before the end of the Brexit transition period, Paschal Donohoe, head of Eurogroup and Ireland's Finance Minister told the Luxembourg Times.
Ireland, alongside Luxembourg, has benefited from the fact that many companies in the financial sector have relocated from London, Donohoe conceded, though he refused to call Brexit a win. "The overall cost of a no-trade deal Brexit would outweigh the benefits for financial services," he said in the interview.
Huge sums at stake as Luxembourg satellite giants battle in US court
Two Luxembourg-based satellite giants are fighting over hundreds of millions of dollars to come from an auction starting on Tuesday designed to accelerate 5G internet service in the US.
SES argues that Intelsat reneged on a deal to share the riches from the US auction for parts of the electromagnetic spectrum in that country. Now SES is demanding a court award $1.8 billion (€1.48 billion) to compensate it and punish Intelsat before it is granted US bankruptcy protection to reorganise finances.
Parliament to adopt more space laws after NASA deal
Luxembourg's parliament is set to adopt two new laws to regulate spaceflight as the country cements its regulatory grasp on the burgeoning industry in close cooperation with America.
The first law implements a UN space treaty from 1972 and will hold the operator of a space firm responsible if it causes damage in space, including damage to the environment caused by debris. The second is an adoption of a UN treaty from 1974 which obliges participants to have a national register detailing which items they have in outer space.
Official body slams Luxembourg's gender equality strategy
The government plan for tackling gender discrimination in Luxembourg was inadequate and lacked focus, an official advisory body said on Monday.
The country's Consultative Commission on Human Rights (CCDH) lambasted the Ministry of Equal Opportunities for Men and Women after evaluating the government's action plan for combating gender inequality. "This plan is only a collection of ideas and actions already in place", the report by the commission created by law 12 years ago. "It seeks in vain a real strategy as well as lacks an analysis of the causes of structural inequalities based on gender, especially in the areas of violence, work and employment".
Virus restrictions to be extended until mid-January
Country-wide restrictions aimed at slowing down the spread of the coronavirus will stay in place for at least another month beyond their expected end next week, Prime Minister Xavier Bettel said at a press conference on Wednesday.
Luxembourg has Europe's highest number of Covid-19 cases after adjusting for population, and trails only Austria for the highest relative number of deaths in western Europe, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.
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