The pharmaceutical division of multinational Johnson & Johnson (J&J) has put up €200 million for its Belgian subsidiary Janssen Pharmaceutica to speed up production of a vaccine against the Ebola virus. Janssen, based in Antwerp province, has been working on a preventive vaccine against...

The Belgian chocolate producer Isis has changed its name to avoid negative associations with current events in the Middle East. "Keeping the name Isis had become untenable," explains the company, referring to recent events in Iraq and Syria and the eponymous terrorist group, ISIS. "Isis launches...

The rapid growth of the renewable energy sector in Belgium is directly responsible for the creation of more than 10,000 jobs annually through 2020, according to a study by Ernst & Young, commissioned by three Belgian companies in the field of renewable energy, report De Standaard and De Tijd ...

According to the Belgian Health Care Knowledge Centre (KCE), if post-natal care is reorganised, women could leave hospital sooner after giving birth. KCE was reacting to the new federal budget for medical insurance, which was approved on Tuesday. According to the new legislations, hospital stays...

A company in Leuven, Bio-Incubator, has received authorisation to keep as many as 6,870 animals next year for testing, which is a quadrupling of the current number allowed. Animal Rights Organisation ADC is threatening with actions and 300 individuals have already submitted an appeal against the...

This week we continue our look at Belgium's new federal government, headed by prime minister Charles Michel in a centre-right coalition. Maggie De Block, Minister of Social Affairs and Health Age: 52 Party: Open VLD (Liberal Democrats; centre right; colour: blue) Hometown: Merchtem, Flanders...

Police unions have warned the government to expect “tough action”, including protests during this week’s European summit in Brussels, after the failure of talks with the new federal interior minister, Jan Jambon. The action is the latest stage in the police protest against a ruling by the...

The new Belgian government is to cancel an agreement to rent cells in a Dutch prison in Tilburg to house Belgian criminals. The agreement will not be renewed when it ends in two years’ time, the cabinet said in a statement. The government was forced in 2010 to rent unused prison cells in Tilburg’s...

ULB students and local residents of Ixelles/Elsene on Wednesday morning chained themselves to trees on the university campus, reports Brusselnieuws.be. A contractor began felling the trees on Tuesday to prepare the lot for the controversial real estate project, Universalis Park. The real estate...

King Albert and Queen Paola have returned to Belgium for the first time in four months. The royal pair appeared at Saint-Luc University Hospital in Brussels to attend a lecture by Professor Benoît Lengelé, a specialist in microsurgery, reconstructive and plastic surgery. Lengelé performed surgery...