Citing his own country’s experience as the first place in the world where chemical weapons were used in a conflict nearly 100 years ago, Belgian prime minister Elio Di Rupo decried the recent use of such weapons in Syria, declaring that a veto should be imposed on tyrants, the United Nations...

In the first five months of 2013, the Belgian association for canine identification and registration (ABIEC) has recorded 1,178 stolen and/or lost dogs - an average of eight per day, the SudPresse newspapers report. 2012 had already been a record year for dog disappearances, with 2,224 lost or...

Mexico City-born artist Ana Fuentes has, perhaps inevitably, been described by some critics as the "new Frida Kahlo". Well, there’s nothing quite like lumping artists together on the basis of their gender and nationality, is there? Fuentes started painting at the age of five, fell in love with the...

Patients will no longer need their SIS card in order to receive treatment or to buy prescription drugs, health minister Laurette Onkelinx announced today. From January 2014, the electronic ID card will suffice - although the chip won’t store any medical data. SIS cards, which were launched 15 years...

Luxury shoe designer Christian Louboutin is asking a Belgian court to stop a far-right campaign from using his iconic stilettos for a poster denouncing Islam, the Belga news agency reported yesterday. The poster by Flemish group Women against Islamization shows the bare legs of a former beauty...

People who switch from part-time to full-time employment will from now on automatically benefit from extra days off and will be entitled to a total of 20 days’ statutory holidays, L'Echo and De Tijd report. Practically speaking, this means they won’t have to wait for two years before they are...

Belgian finance minister Koen Geens and state secretary John Crombez have introduced a bill to the parliamentary social affairs committee providing for the introduction of a new tax regime for occasional work carried out in the hotel and catering industry, writes Tax News' Ulrika Lomas . The bill...

A brand new Lego Store opens today in Wijnegem Shopping Center, outside Antwerp - the very first specialist Lego shop in the Benelux, reports De Standaard. The 150 square metre shop boasts, beside the famous blocks in all sizes and colours, a wide range of Lego toys including exclusive and hard-to-...

As announced by Ambassador Brenton in this month’s column , the University of Wolverhampton opened a brand new Brussels office on September 16, an outpost aimed at ensuring the university’s presence at the heart of future policy development on European funded research. The office’s location, close...

State secretary for mobility Melchior Wathelet and insurance company Ethias want to introduce a scheme where motorists who equip their vehicles with winter tyres would receive a bonus, the SudPresse newspapers report. The idea is to offer motorists an incentive in the form of a bonus and / or a...