Animal park Planckendael near Mechelen has announced the birth of Qiyo, the fifth baby for Phyo Phyo and a little sister for the country’s most famous elephant, Kai Mook, who is now six. Tradition has it that animals born at the park or at Antwerp Zoo, with which Plankendael is associated, are...

Fashion in and from Belgium is doing exceptionally well. Raf Simons now heads Dior, and John Galliano just took over the reins at Maison Margiela, ushering in an exciting new era for the fashion house founded by Limburg native Martin Margiela. Graduates from local schools routinely make their way...

The country’s first medical practice housed in a metro station opened this week in Brussels. The practice in Central Station is intended for the use of commuters and local residents. “People no longer take the time to go to the doctor, so it’s essential for us to go to the patient,” said Annick...

Following a trend that already exists in France, Russia and the US, Belgium now has its own pay-per-hour cafe, reports brusselnieuws.be. At Café La Récré in Ixelles, customers don't pay according to what they consume but by how long they spend there. The first hour costs €4, during which time...

As the number of people in Belgium who live alone continues to rise, the government should adapt its regulations to reflect the current situation, according to the new association All1. The aim of the interest group is to launch a social and political debate on the subject of single-person...

A massive case against 55 staff of the federal buildings agency has been dropped because it exceeded its legal time limit, a court in Leuven has ruled. The case dates back to 2007 and alleges that property developers and building contractors paid bribes to officials of the agency – which maintains...

Flemish environment minister Joke Schauvliege (CD&V) is working on an 'M-score' or mobility score for homes, to serve as an indicator of how accessible a home is. "If the testing goes well, then I want to make it mandatory," said Schauvliege on Tuesday in De Morgen . The lower the M-score, the...

The Benelux Parliament has proposed the idea of combining the railways of Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg into one “domestic” network. It also calls for the creation of a Benelux rail agenda, which would contain a number of concrete initiatives to improve the eastern and western railway...

The average Belgian underestimates the risks of some basic causes of cancer and overestimates others, according to the Foundation against Cancer’s latest Cancer Barometer. The foundation questioned 1,000 people between 16 and 70 years old. When asked to rank the causes of cancer in order from the...

The Belgian automobile federations are sponsoring the new chair Company Mobility and Taxation at the Brussels Studies Institute (BSI). The purpose is to provide statistics on company cars, which are currently the subject of a major political debate. Automotive federations Renta, Febiac and Traxio...