Tournée Minérale – the campaign that saw more than 120,000 Belgians swear off alcohol for the entire month of February – saw sales in Flanders’ hospitality businesses drop by about 10%, according to industry federation Horeca Vlaanderen, while Brussels was unaffected. Horeca Vlaanderen and the...

Electricity producer Engie Electrabel is developing the most powerful rechargeable battery installation in Belgium, to be located in Drogenbos, Flemish Brabant. The lithium-ion batteries should be able to store up to six megawatts of electricity, De Tijd has reported. The project of Electrabel is a...

Thanks to the immense success of companies like Uber and Airbnb, the sharing economy is on everyone’s lips these days. Having changed how we travel and get around, this collaborative approach to consumption is now in the process of reshaping the food industry. With Menu Next Door, Brussels-based...

Brussels public transport operator Stib has begun removing all of its fixed metal waste bins from metro stations as they no longer meet the security criteria required since the terror threat level in the city was raised to level 3 a year and a half ago. A Stib spokeswoman said it was no longer...

A key member of the Belgian hacking collective Down Sec, which has claimed responsibility for several high-profile cyber-attacks on public bodies, corporations and the media, has gone in trial in Brussels. BNP Paribas Fortis bank and the nuclear safety body AFCN are among the organisations that...

The famous Hallerbos in Flemish Brabant, the forest filled with bluebells that attracts thousands of visitors from home and abroad every spring, is looking for volunteer stewards. The stewards’ job, according to the Flemish Agency for Nature and Woodlands, will be to keep visitors on the paths that...

The secretary of state for the North Sea in the federal government is launching an action plan aimed at reducing the amount of waste dumped in the North Sea. Philippe De Backer announced the plan at the opening of the United Nations’ #CleanSeas campaign in Bali. Every year across the world, eight...

Zuhal Demir is the new federal secretary of state for equal opportunities, people with disabilities, science policy and fighting poverty. She takes over from her N-VA colleague Elke Sleurs, who stepped down to lead the party’s election list on the Ghent city council. Demir (pictured) is from Genk,...

A daycare centre in Auderghem has been shut down for two weeks pending an investigation into claims that a 12-year-old girl was left in charge of supervising the young children while a staff member went to the post office. According to RTBF, police were called last week by a neighbour who saw the...

Belgium's 30,000 soldiers are getting more and more overweight, the latest figures from federal defence minister Steven Vandeput reveal. The average body mass index for soldiers over the age of 30 is 25.56. The World Health Organisations says a BMI over 25 is overweight. It appears to get worse...