On Brussels' Place Sainte-Cathérine, four benches will be returned to the public, and the space allotted to café and restaurant terraces on the square will be reduced, announced economy minister Marion Lemesre on Monday in the Brussels city council. The admission comes after the collective Free 54...

With the slogan 'Share our smile', Flanders aims to attract more tourists to the region in the coming months. The campaign is targeted specifically at countries that have not issued a travel warning for Belgium. Flemish tourism minister Ben Weyts would like to see the campaign extended to Brussels...

The number of workers taking long-term sick leave in Belgium is rising at an alarming rate, Securex warns. The HR and health insurance company based its finding on figures from the National Health and Disability Insurance (Inami). According to Inami, 370,400 people last year were absent from work...

Three of Brussels’ busiest junctions have been painted over with a cross-hatch pattern, part of a new campaign to teach motorists to keep junctions clear. The patterns on Sainctelette, Troon and Kunst-Wet are part of the “Don’t block the box” campaign launched by mobility minister Pascal Smet. It...

Businesses at the Flemish coast had their best long weekend in years over the Ascension holiday, which lasted from 5 to 9 May, according to West Flanders’ tourism agency Westtoer. De Panne reported having the busiest spring weekend in the last 10 years, with a peak on Saturday of 50,000 to 75,000...

You don’t have to be terribly old to remember the mission money box. Back in the day, you could leave some coins in the piggy bank at your school or in the local church to help the “poor children in Africa”. Some jars were decorated with a statuette of a missionary dressed in habit with a few...

Entrepreneurship in Belgium is lagging behind other European countries, according to various studies over the years ranging from Vlerick Business School to the European Commission. But the number of people starting their own business here reached a record high last year, up 1.8% to more than 82,000...

The Belgian government has enlisted the help of the army to provide "additional humanitarian assistance" to prisons in Brussels and Wallonia, where prison personnel has been on strike for 12 days, Belgian media report. The decision to use soldiers to replace the striking prison officers came from...

Brussels minister for road safety Bianca Debaets wants to include two additional first aid lessons in the theoretical driving test. It is therefore likely that knowledge of the material will be required of anyone who wants to obtain a driving license in Belgium in the future, write La Dernière...

After nearly half a century of business, the famous Brussels café Goupil Le Fol near the Grand Place is accepting takeover offers. Owner Abel hopes to find a new operator who will preserve the character of his quirky pub. "I'm almost ready to retire,” Abel told RTBF. “It has nothing to do with the...