Opticians across Belgium are offering free eye tests until 17 October, in a nationwide initiative encouraging more people to take care of their eyesight. Some 500 specialists - about a third of all Belgian opticians - are taking part in the 11th edition of Vision Week (Semaine de la Vision/Week van...

This bumper edition is full of practical information on navigating life in Belgium and lifestyle features on culture, parenting, finance, accessibility for people with reduced mobility, buying a new smartphone, the best beauty, craft and cooking shops, and much more. The Bulletin is also proud to...

Plans to build a cycle path along one of Brussels' busiest streets, Rue Belliard, have been described as "absurd" by the Belgian motorists' association Touring. The five-lane expressway, a major artery heading out of the city centre and the EU district, would be reduced to four lanes under the...

Mothers in Belgium are being encouraged to breastfeed for as long as possible - up to two years - in a new campaign launched this week. According to the public health department, many women who give birth in hospital stop breastfeeding when they get back home, despite breastfeeding having numerous...

Inheritance can be a daunting affair. How much inheritance tax do you have to pay and what happens to your company when your business partner passes away? Careful estate planning helps prevent these issues and eliminates any uncertainties, but if you live and work outside of your home country, the...

The annual cultural celebration Nuit Blanche returns on Saturday for a late-night fiesta of artistic events under the umbrella theme of renaissance. It’s an opportunity to visit familiar and offbeat venues in a different light and experience community arts projects. There’s a variety of events,...

Belgium is about to get its first US-style class action for compensation, as consumer group Test-Achats squares up to travel company Thomas Cook. Press reports expect the groundbreaking case to be placed before the Court of the First Instance in Brussels today. The challenge concerns a Thomas Cook...

The former refugee camp set up by the Red Cross in Brussels’ Parc Maximilien is almost completely dismantled, as the newly arrived asylum-seekers, mostly from Syria and Afghanistan, move to the WTC office tower nearby for winter accommodation. Yet more than 100 people have remained in the park...

Frontier controls introduced at the Belgian border at the end of September are revealed to be rather thin in today's papers. The idea, announced 10 days ago by interior minister Jan Jambon, was to stem the flow of migrants arriving in the country and frustrate people smugglers. De Standaard recalls...

A cafe in Vilvoorde is facing closure if people are found smoking on the premises one more time, in what is reported to be the first case of its kind in Belgium. According to a report in Le Soir , the owner of the unnamed cafe has been fined €1,800 for breaking the anti-smoking law, but has also...