Your Daily BriefToday's most important news in one place

The projected cost for Luxembourg’s new velodrome in Mondorf-les-Bains has surged enormously.

The initial cost had been set at just under €64 million, now the projected cost is set to reach at least €98 million. On Wednesday, Minister Martine Hansen presented the draft law needed to adapt the initial project to the revised cost. Several reasons lay behind the eye-watering increase. The initial price was based on the construction price index from October 2021. By October 2025, that index had risen by 27%, adding €16.5 million. The real cost increase, beyond indexation, stands at €17.8 million Hansen stressed, driven in part by new accessibility requirements and a more extensive photovoltaic panel installation.

Opposition members raised questions at Wednesday's meeting. Liz Braz of the Luxembourg Socialist Workers’ Party (LSAP) noted that while the indexation costs were understandable, this "explosion of costs" needed to be properly justified to the parliamentary committee and to taxpayers in the draft law itself.

Additionally it was announced that The Coque is expected to manage the new velodrome and that the facility will include 20 rooms designed to function as an on-site hostel for athletes, but these could also be made available to others if not in use by sportspeople.

A site visit to the future velodrome is scheduled for next Monday, with Sport Minister Martine Hansen expected to attend, among others.

Also today

• It has been discovered that around 500 foreign dentists were misled by DTMD, a private Wiltz-based school that issued unauthorized, invalid master's degrees.
• Luxembourg's secondary teachers' union FEDUSE warns that a new mobile phone ban cannot fix the country's record-low PISA scores.
• Police are searching for a man suspected of stealing two mobile phones from Terminal A at Findel Airport at around 6pm on 4 August.
• The Lahore High Court has blocked a Pakistan Medical and Dental Council order to expel over a hundred Afghan medical students.
• Russia has begun a tightly controlled three-day parliamentary election to decide all 450 Duma seats.
• UNESCO Chief Khaled el-Enany has proposed that the UN agency act as a global moderator in the debate over artificial intelligence risks.

On air

Tom had a live call with Oliver Möller of Kultur who was at the Reeperbahn Festival in Hamburg, presenting four Luxembourgish artists there: Ninon, First Mote, ENGLBRT, and Raftside

Figure of the day

As of 1 January 2026, the country had 690,959 residents, marking an annual growth rate of 1.3%, down on previous years.

• The population of Luxembourg continued to grow at a slower pace in 2025. As of 1 January 2026, the country had 690,959 residents. This marks an annual growth rate of 1.3%, noticeably lower than in previous years, when growth rates ranged from 2.0% to 2.5%. Of the total population, 368,900 are Luxembourgish citizens, while 322,100 hold other nationalities. Among foreign residents, Portuguese citizens remain the largest group (88,300), followed by French nationals (49,300).
• In 2025, 6,439 babies were born in Luxembourg, a figure almost identical to the previous year (6,459). Women had their first child at an average age of 31.2. Marriage rates saw a slight rise, with 2,604 couples tying the knot in 2025 compared to 2,567 the year before. Meanwhile, divorces increased significantly, reaching 1,367 in 2025, up from 1,197 in 2024. Nearly half of Luxembourg’s residents are married (47.5%), while roughly one third are single (32.6%).
  

Stay connected: Tune in to RTL Today Radio, now on 93.3 FM and DAB+, and be sure to catch our full bulletin on the hour, every hour, and headlines at half past the hour.