US president Barack Obama’s visit to Belgium yesterday went according to plan, with a visit to the Flanders Fields American Cemetery and Memorial in Waregem, West Flanders, an EU-US summit and meetings with the staff of Nato in Brussels and a speech at Bozar with 2,000 invited guests. In the...

Angry fairground operators blockaded roads in the centre of Antwerp yesterday in protest at plans to move the annual Sinksenfoor out of its home in the centre to the outlying district of Borgerhout. Four police officers were injured in clashes, and 43 protesters were arrested, mainly for public...

Belgium continues to sink lower in the list of countries with a good anti-tobacco policy. Especially the low price of rolling tobacco is considered a huge problem. "We are no longer making progress," tobacco control expert at the Belgian Foundation against Cancer Luk Joossens told De Standaard and...

Starting this summer, judges will have the power to take away the driving license of parents who fail to pay alimony for their children. Repossession of goods is also possible. In this way, minister Koen Geens (CD&V) intends to reduce poverty among single parents, report De Standaard , Het...

As of January 1, 2013, one in three residents of the Brussels-Capital Region did not have Belgian nationality, according to demographics released yesterday by the Brussels Institute for Statistics and Analysis (BISA). The study shows that among Brussels inhabitants, there are 381,771 non-Belgians,...

Mr President & Co. As President of the United States, Barack Obama earns an annual base salary of $400,000 (about €290,135). This comes with a healthy onslaught of benefits however: a generous allowance of $150,000 (€109,350) for yearly expenses, a tax-free travel budget of $100,000 (€72,500)...

The so-called Toeter Test to examine whether young children are ready for primary school is still used by half of all Flemish schools, but the time has come to end it, say educational experts Never meant to hold children back, says psychologist VRT’s news magazine Koppen reported this week that...

Prince Laurent, the younger brother of King Filip, is being held in an artificial coma in the intensive care facility of Saint-Luc Hospital in Brussels, the royal palace has confirmed. The prince is suffering a respiratory tract infection. Prince Laurent, 50, was last week reported to be suffering...

Antwerp Zoo fulfils a social function, takes part in research and is not profit-driven, Flanders’ tourism and heritage minister Geert Bourgeois said yesterday. Speaking on VRT radio, the minister was responding to criticism from Eric Domb, CEO of the Pairi Daiza park in Brugelette, Wallonia, about...

Belgium has approved the use of nalmefene (trade name Selincro), a drug to reduce alcohol dependence, report Le Soir and Sudpresse . Selincro is only available by prescription. Its active ingredients do not prevent drunkenness, but they reduce the desire to drink. The drug is mainly targeted at...