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Culture beat – May 23

A fake museum in the EU quarter presents a chilling vision of the European Union collapsing in 2018. From the viewpoint of 2060, the depressing thesis by Brussels theatre director Thomas Bellinck attempts to deconstruct where the European model went wrong: increasing Euroscepticism and nationalism...

The Rules of Mobility: a Q&A with STIB

Londoners complaining about bus irregularity, Parisians moaning about tramps in metro stations… is there a European city where people are totally pleased with the public transport system? If so, Brussels isn’t one of them – punctuality, route changes and general public transport etiquette are...

Walloons favour republic in case of Belgian split

More than half (53%) of Walloons would opt for a republic should Belgium disappear and Wallonia become independent, with Belgian prime minister Elio Di Rupo as their preferred choice of president, according to a survey by Ipsos and the Sudpresse group. The remaining 47% would favour a monarchy. “...

Amnesty criticises Belgium’s arms checks

Amnesty International’s annual report reveals that Belgium is unable to control satisfactorily the final destination of the weapons it sells abroad, because of legislation passed by the Flemish and Walloon parliaments last June on the import, export and transfer of arms, which imposes inadequate...

Bpost to be floated on stock exchange

Belgian postal operator bpost today announced that it would list a minority stake, currently held by private equity group CVC Funds, on the Brussels stock exchange, Reuters reports. The Belgian state will continue to hold a 50.01% stake in the former monopoly and will not sell shares in the...

Is Car Free Sunday illegal?

Several irregularities undermine the legality of Brussels’ annual Car Free Sunday event, prosecutor Bruno Bulthé has written in a letter to the attorney general at the court of appeal of Brussels, reports Le Soir. He argues that it is impossible for the authorities to punish drivers flouting the...

Belgian bakery to open on Yale campus

A little taste of Belgium is coming to New Haven, Connecticut: Belgium-based bakery Maison Mathis is set to open behind Yale University’s Davenport College, writes the Yale Daily News’s Monica Disare . Though the exact date of opening has not been determined, construction has already started. In...

Dolma

In order to compensate for my dwindling meat consumption, I’ve been exploring the strange, new world of health food stores and vegetarian restaurants. And I’m quite enjoying the journey. My most recent endeavour takes me to Dolma, often referred to as Brussels’ best veggie restaurant.

Running for Retrak: Week 15

Here we go then, the final few days before the big event. Come Sunday morning, you’ll find me lining up with tens of thousands of others at the start line of the Brussels 20km, hoping that all these months of training will get me round and deliver me in one piece a couple of hours later to the...

Wage watchers: how much does a youth club worker earn?

Youth club worker Willem Vounckx, 27, from Aarschot talks about what he earns and how he spends it What do you do for a living? As a city employee I support young people in their running of the youth club. That means I help the volunteers in the overall running of the club, the admin side of things...

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