Belgium is the top packaging recycler among all 27 EU member states, according to figures from 2011 released by Eurostat, reports Recycling International . Belgium tops the table with a rate of 80.2%, followed by the Netherlands and Germany on, respectively, 71.9% and 71.8%. At the bottom of the...

Fashion designer Christian Louboutin yesterday won his legal battle Monday to stop an extremist campaign featuring his signature red-soled shoes. The poster by far-right Flemish group Women Against Islamisation shows the bare legs of former Miss Belgium – and now Vlaams Belang senator - Anke Van...

Originally from Auderghem, 44-year-old Laurence Couturier moved to Saint-Gilles after she finished studying. She later found somewhere to live in Schaerbeek, but when she felt the itch to buy her own house, she wanted to move closer to her roots. “Via my grandmother’s hairdresser I got word of a...

Belgium has won the first world blind wine-tasting competition for teams, with Denmark and England finishing second and third, the event’s organisers said. Philippe Ketelslegers, Filip Mesdom, Eric Derenne and Serge Condens took top honours at the competition held in the south-western French town...

Police discovered two kilograms of cocaine in the luggage of a Brazilian drug trafficker at Brussels Airport, the Brussels prosecutor’s office announced yesterday. The Brazilian drug smuggler was stopped at customs at Brussels Airport on Saturday night; the drugs were found hidden in the false...

Alleged Somali pirate warlord Mohamed Abdi Hassan, also known by the nickname ‘Afweyne’ or ‘Big Mouth’, has been arrested by Belgian police at Brussels airport, various media report this morning. The United Nations considers Abdi Hassan one of the most notorious and influential Somali pirate...

Belgium has joined the International Surfing Association (ISA), as its 77th member, reports Surfer Today . Belgium has over 65km of coastline and offers a variety of large sandy beaches and a few protected jetties, favouring north groundswells and south-west windswells that provide fun waves for...

The annual bank tax levied on credit institutions in Belgium will yield €16m more in 2013 than initially forecast, writes Tax News’ Ulrika Lomas . In a written parliamentary response, finance minister Koen Geens announced that the bank tax will serve to generate around €96m for the state’s coffers...

Over two years, Belgian photographer, journalist and mother Lieve Blancquaert travelled to 14 countries to witness the arrival of new human life for her project Birth Day . Convinced that the birth process holds up a mirror to the society in which it takes place, she talked to families about their...

Dietician Aukje Dierckx, 24, from Mechelen, talks about what she earns and how she spends it What do you do for a living? I studied nutrition and dietetics. As part of my degree, I did two internships, at the multiple sclerosis centre in Melsbroek and at the Imelda hospital in Bonheiden, near...