Two out of three Belgian telecom operators reported less text messages were sent this year on December 24 than last year. Belgians are increasingly using smartphones to send holiday greetings via the Internet, conclude the operators. Proximus saw a 220% increase in mobile data traffic compared to...

January – Insects approved for public consumption 2014 started off with some bad news for Belgium’s insect population. On January 3, Belgium's Federal Agency for the Safety of the Food Chain published a list of 10 insect species approved for public consumption. Two brands of bug-based foods have...

Brussels non-profit organisation Corvia on Tuesday unveiled its latest initiative in the fight against poverty in the capital: a refrigerator open to the public. Anyone who wants to can deposit or take food from the fridge, located at 444 Boulevard Lambermont in Schaerbeek. A similar initiative...

The Belgian government has donated €100,000 to Music for Life, the annual solidarity and fundraising event launched by radio station Studio Brussel. Half of the donation will go to S.O.S. Kinderdorpen (Children's Villages) and the other half to Plan Belgium. Federal Development aid Minister...

One hundred years ago this Christmas, a day of fraternity in Flanders’ fields passed into fable. The Christmas truce of 1914 is remembered as a moment of compassion amid the carnage of the First World War, of spontaneous solidarity between opposing soldiers, and perhaps the most flagrantly...

Security is to be tightened around the prime minister Charles Michel after he was doused in chips and mayonnaise by militant feminists at a conference of Walloon businessmen and women in Namur. The attack happened during a lunchtime meeting of the Cercle de Wallonie on Monday. Michel had just...

Albert Wastiaux , 58, is to become the new Operations Director of the Centre for Fine Arts (Bozar) in Brussels from April next year. Wastiaux is currently manager of the National Orchestra of Belgium. The Dutch-born Wastiaux, who moved to Belgium at the age of four, began his career as...

Allergy medication use in Belgium has increased by nearly 70% in the last several years, according to figures from the National Institute for Health and Disability Insurance (INAMI), De Morgen reports. "Allergies are increasingly treated with meds, but meanwhile we are headed for an epidemic,"...

Nearly three-quarters of the restaurants in Flanders that are open on December 31 are already fully booked, reports De Morgen . On Christmas Eve, more than half of the restaurants are fully booked, according to a survey of 412 restaurants carried out by the industry organisation Horeca Vlaanderen...

The new year will see tax on company cars rise by 2.5% to 3% more than in 2014. The tax increase is due to the annual CO2 emissions standard adjustment to taxable benefits calculations. CO2 emissions are one of the key criteria that are taken into account when calculating taxable benefits. The CO2...