Five stories you may have missed

Luxembourg to offer better protection for renters in law overhaul

The Luxembourg government on Wednesday introduced a new bill to better protect tenants from overpriced rents amid a worsening housing crisis with staggering price increases.The document – an overhaul of the rent law from 1955 – foresees that agency fees, so far paid by the tenants alone, will be shared equally with the landlord.

It also reduces the deposit to a maximum of two months' rent – down from three – adding set deadlines to return the money, and fines for landlords if they fail to do so.

The new law will continue capping annual rents at 5% of the value of the property and any money invested in it but will introduce measures to guarantee transparency and protect tenants.

Luxembourg steel giant looks for cuts as virus slows sales

The pandemic-caused economic shock that hit core markets in Europe and North America pushed Luxembourg-based steel giant ArcelorMittal into a $1.7 billion (€1.45 billion) loss so far this year and a search for permanent cost cuts, the company said on Thursday.

Depressed demand from construction and car-makers meant the world's largest steelmaker delivered customers 35% less steel in the year's second quarter and deliveries have fallen by nearly a quarter so far this year.

Record low road deaths despite increasing accident numbers

The number of fatal road accidents in Luxembourg dropped to a record-low last year with 22 people losing their lives in traffic, with speeding and drunk driving the main causes. The drop in numbers came after last year's spike in casualties when 36 lives were lost.

"The number of fatal and serious traffic accidents is falling steadily, even though the population and the vehicle fleet are growing," Transport Minister François Bausch said at a press conference on Wednesday.

Controversial yoghurt factory enters next planning phase

The city of Bettemburg launched the next stage of consultations required to proceed with the construction of a controversial yoghurt plant in the city's industrial zones.

In an open letter published last week, authorities call for feedback on the plans to build a plant by Greek yoghurt company Fage, with the deadline for filing potential complaints set for 10 August. These could be plentiful as the construction plans have been heavily debated since Fage bought the land in the south of Luxembourg in 2016.

Not as easy as on TV – the fight against water polluters

When a measuring station in Wasserbillig noticed a sudden peak in levels of a chemical used in making plastics, staff painstakingly traced the harmful substance through the country's sewers all the way to an industrial site in the north. But the Water Management Authority (AGE) is not always as successful.

"It's not as easy as it looks on CSI," said Jean-Paul Lickes of the body, explaining that the search for the offender in this case lasted nearly three months. Unlike the forensics experts solving crime in handy 45-minute episodes in the US TV series, Luxembourg's real-world efforts to detect and isolate pollution is more complicated.

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