Place Jourdan in the capital’s EU quarter could be turned into a car-free square by 2016, according to Vincent De Wolf, the mayor of the Etterbeek commune. Wolf has launched a public inquiry to discuss his administration’s proposals for transforming the popular square. If it gets planning approval...

AB InBev, the largest brewing concern in the world, has escaped its share of the €106 million fine handed down to the members of a cartel of brewers for unfair competition. The Leuven-based brewer was spared because it agreed to provide evidence against the other partners in the price-fixing scheme...

If there is one question everyone asks during their lifetime, it may be 'is it safe to eat after the 'best before date'?' From milk, to cheese, meats and fish, is the dreaded deadline for consumption written in stone, or is it possible to eat foods after they've expired? Universities in Belgium and...

Last year, police speed zone checks in Ixelles nabbed 35,485 drivers exceeding the limits. The police also confiscated 499 licenses, of which 494 were taken for speeding infractions. Of the 433,579 motorists checked by mobile radar in 2013, nearly 20 thousand were caught for speeding. Just last...

Belgian police have ramped up efforts to curb the practice of human trafficking through the country en-route to the UK. On Monday night the prosecutor’s office set an operation in motion along the Brussels Ostend motorway, targeting parking lots that are frequently used to load undocumented...

Two new studies released by Oxford University Press suggest that Belgium’s political mayhem may have actually helped the country weather the global economic crisis. “Changing inequalities & societal impacts in rich countries” and “Changing inequalities in rich countries, analytical and...

It seems the idea that the majority of Europeans have the ability to speak multiple languages is a myth. Perhaps still more than in other parts of the world, a new study reveals that among the 28 EU member states one in four Europeans say they never bothered to learn a second language. Three out of...

Belgium needs to experience more severe winter weather than it has so far to escape the danger of the Asian tiger mosquito, the Institute for Tropical Medicine (ITG) in Antwerp announced yesterday. The insects ( Aedes albopictus ) surfaced in Flanders last July at a tyre importer in the port of...

The number of counterfeit banknotes in circulation rose last year to 39,167, up from 22,433 in 2012, and a rise of 75%, the National Bank of Belgium (NBB) reported. The total value of the false notes is estimated at just over €3 million. The majority of the fakes come from Italy, manufactured by...