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'Family lane' at Brussels Airport security over Christmas

During the Christmas holiday period, Brussels Airport will open a family lane with a new security procedure specially adapted for families with young children. Some 180,000 passengers are expected to travel to and from the capital over the course of the holidays. Friday 23 December will see around...

London university removes Leopold II plaques after student protest

Queen Mary University of London has removed two commemorative plaques laid by King Leopold II following a wave of student protests decrying the 19th century monarch's colonialist history. Campaigners felt that the plaques would cause offence to students of certain ethnic backgrounds and described...

Bru-Stars: Brussels' new mental healthcare network for young people

As part of the expansion of community mental healthcare provision – redirecting funding from institutional psychiatric care – a series of multidisciplinary outreach teams for adults, providing short- and long-term care, has been established across the country in the past five years. In 2015,...

Keep your legs to yourself: STIB asked to stop manspreading

Brussels public transport authority STIB has been asked to start a campaign aimed at raising the awareness of male passengers to the horrors of “manspreading”. You may be in the need of some elucidation, or “mansplaining”. It goes like this: When seated on a bus or tram seat intended for one, men...

Busy weekend for shops with seven million transactions

More than seven million bank card transactions were made throughout Belgium on Saturday, with shoppers flooding the high streets and shopping outlets in search of Christmas gifts and end-of-year deals. With Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve both falling on a Saturday this year, the weekend marked...

New SNCB boss wants 'a more modern company for passengers'

The Belgian rail operator SNCB has appointed a new chief executive in former Electrabel CEO Sophie Dutordoir. She becomes the first woman to take charge of the transport company, and will replace the outgoing Jo Cornu. The decision was made during a ministerial select committee meeting on Friday,...

56 arrested at anti-fascist demonstration

56 people arrested during an anti-fascist demonstration in Brussels on Sunday have been released, according to the Brussels prosecutor’s office. Police were forced to intervene in proceedings when a minority of demonstrators began to smash windows of bank branches and damage bus stops between Place...

My job in Belgium: How much does an undertaker earn?

What is your job? I am an administrator/funeral undertaker for Jaeken’s Funeral Undertakers in Peer (Limburg province). I am mainly responsible for the care and laying-out of the deceased, I notify the commune or town authorities of the death, I take care of the administration and the invoicing...

Belgian artist on designing Leonard Cohen’s last album cover

Sammy Slabbinck started making found-photo collages in 2009 using vintage copies of fashion and entertainment magazines. Juxtaposing the images, he confuses observers with absurd incongruities, forcing them to view the images from a wholly new perspective. With the clear influence of Magritte, a...

Fines based on speed cameras are illegal, says court

The Cassation Court has declared all traffic fines handed out on the basis of number plate identification alone unlawful. The ruling has plunged the federal government into confusion, as home affairs minister Jan Jambon admitted that it was unclear how the government would proceed. According to...

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