First up: The Bakker household now 
has expert advice to support its plan to stay home and stay semi-prone this weekend:
TRAFFIC WARNING
Drivers are being urged to avoid travelling this week-end if at all possible. The start of the half-term holidays means heavy traffic as families head off for winter-sports breaks. The ACL says people should leave on Friday morning if they can or wait for Sunday. The combination of heavy traffic and difficult driving conditions, could make for extremely long journeys, especially for those headed for the Alps.
Other traffic-related news
LONG COMMUTES
The average commuting time for people working in Luxembourg is 37 minutes. A study of 13 different European countries by the Regus Group puts the Grand Duchy ahead of all the others when it comes to long journeys to and from work. The study revealed that 15% of commuters here were sick of spending so long travelling and would actively consider changing jobs to avoid it.
ROAD SAFETY VIGILANTES
Three men beat up a motorist on the A13 motorway late on Saturday. They forced him to stop near Bascharage by overtaking him and blocking him. They then wrenched his car door open and pulled him out, beating him up and leaving him on the verge. The victim told the police they seemed to be upset about something wrong with his brake lights. The police have not been able to trace the attackers.
The Bugle would like to take this opportunity to remind all motorists to check their lights: brake, indicator, headlights and fog lamps.
Less traffic-related news
KNIFE ATTACK
A knife-wielding robber attacked a delivery truck driver in the early hours of Saturday morning in Esch. He climbed into the cab of the vehicle and tried, but failed to steal the driver’s coat before fleeing. The driver got out and gave chase, but the robber turned back and stabbed him in the stomach. The attacker is described as being young, tall, of African heritage and dressed like a rapper.
Paraphrasing Mr Weedon on Radio ARA: Which rapper? Was he without a shirt, like 50 Cent, or wearing gold chains? Track suit bottoms, or Jay-Z Armani? Maybe the police could use some high-tech tools to clarify the issue.
DOG RESCUE
The fire service rescued a stranded dog at the week-end. 
It had got stuck half way down a cliff in the Rollingergrund, and had ended up taking refuge in a small cave. Walkers noticed at and called the fire service, who were able to reach the dog with their ladders. The dog was unharmed by its ordeal.
No kidding: Will almost got stuck half-way down a cliff in Rollingergrund recently. That’s a photo from his autumn stroll over hill and dale.
CASH MACHINE CON
Tricksters are out and about again in the capital, this time targeting people at cash machines. They tell people that they have left a 20 Euro note in a machine that they had just used. Then they advise them to check their account in case the machine had issued more money than requested, and while the victim is distracted, they steal the card and claim the machine has retained it.
MYSTERY ABDUCTION
A young man was abducted near the station in the capital yesterday morning. He was walking with his girlfriend when a car stopped to talk to him. One of the passengers then got out and bundled him into the car, which sped off. His girlfriend ran to the nearby police station, and they put out an international alert for the car, which was registered in France. Belgian police picked it up around an hour later near Athus. The victim was freed without harm, and the two kidnappers arrested. Police say they can’t yet completely explain the background for the kidnapping.
As usual, our main source for news is ARA City Radio’s useful website. That’s mostly because Will doesn’t get around to translating the French sources in time for these updates. Let’s go, Will!