– For the first time in a month, it was again frozen in Flanders, Belgium. That is exceptional for this time of the year. On December 13th of last year, the mercury dropped below zero for the last time. There were only eight reported frozen winter nights in Flanders.

– A small airplane crashed yesterday near the German town of Rivenich, in the state of Rhineland-Palatine. The four passengers were all killed. According to the Rhein Zeitung website, the airplane flew against a power pole and crashed down in a landfill, some twenty kilometers from the city of Trier. The crash occurred less than four miles from a local airport but it is not yet clear whether the plane had taken off there. The emergency services immediately arrived in the scene, says Rhein Zeitung. The precise cause of the accident is not yet clear but according to local media, it was very foggy in the area when the accident took place.

–  Meanwhile, British spies are to be given for the first time “licence to speed” and will not be fined. This is a new scheme that the British Secretary of State for Transport, Robert Goodwil announced today. Officers in MI5 and MI6 currently have to abide by the rules of the road – even when national security is under threat. But the minister is giving them the same exemptions as police, fire and ambulance drivers. They will be able to break the speed limit once they have completed a training course in high-speed driving accredited by the Driving Standards Agency. Other groups also likely to be permitted to legally break the speed limit include vehicles carrying transplant organs, bomb disposal units, mountain rescue teams and those engaged in ‘surveillance and covert operations’. More than 90 per cent of people who responded to the consultation backed the extending speed limit exemptions to those involved in ‘the protection of life and limb or national security’.

– The First Lady and partner of French President François Hollande, Valerie Trierweiler, was hospitalized Friday after the revelation of an alleged relationship between the head of state and an actress. Cabinet confirms that Ms. Trierweiler will take rest and undergo some tests in the hospital.

Closer magazine reported in its edition published on Friday that Hollande, 59, has been having an affair with actress Julie Gayet, 41. The weekly glossy magazine printed photos of Gayet and Hollande arriving separately at a flat near the Presidential Elysee Palace for secret tryst.  Hollande would reportedly arrive at the flat on a chauffeur-driven scooter and had fresh croissants delivered to the lovenest in the morning by his personal bodyguards. Valerie Trierweiler lives with the President in the Elysee Palace, his official residence. The Socialist leader has slammed the magazine’s report as an outrageous attack on his right to a private life and said he is considering legal action.

That’s it for now…Happy Monday everyone…Take care and God bless us all!