Bart De Wever, the leader of the N-VA, said yesterday that he wanted Belgium to set up a department for homeland security to survey, among other things, young combatants who leave the country to fight in Syria. Speaking to a group of Belgian and Dutch mayors in the Dutch city of Delft, De Wever,...

King Albert has had a small tumour removed from his scalp, his second cancer surgery in three years, the Royal Palace announced yesterday. Albert, who abdicated last July in favour of his son, Philippe, was immediately discharged from the hospital to return to his home in Larken, but is still in a...

A plan by federal transport minister Melchior Wathelet to change the flight paths of some flights arriving at and taking off from Brussels Airport has been shelved by his colleagues in the council of ministers. According to Wathelet’s cabinet, no consensus on the question could be found due to the...

Geert Bourgeois and Kris Peeters, the respective negotiators of the nationalist N-VA and the Christian-democrat CD&V, have failed to secure a breakthrough in their talks on a new Flemish government coalition, six weeks after elections in Flanders. The two negotiators met alone without any...

The board of directors at the Free University of Brussels (VUB) would like to see all their students given the right to vote directly in the election of a new rector. A definitive decision on the possible reform of the election procedures will be made on 16 September. The VUB would be the first...

Belgium’s national football team returned to home soil yesterday to a welcome from airport fire crews, a reception from the King and a brief public appearance in celebration of their exploits in the World Cup in Brazil, which ended with the side being eliminated by Argentina in the quarter-finals...

The Channel Tunnel will be partially closed today as high-speed train company Eurostar works to repair a power failure that forced nearly 400 passengers to be evacuated. The incident, which blocked one of the tunnel’s two tracks, has thrown the travel plans of thousands of holidaymakers and other...

Belgian healthcare products distributor Omega Pharma NV is considering selling itself more than two years after it was taken private by its founder, according to news reports. The sale of the company, based in Nazareth, East Flanders, could earn its owners more than $4 billion. Omega Pharma, which...

Opposition is growing to plans by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to overhaul the grounds of the historic Maison Delune on Brussels’ Avenue Franklin Roosevelt for a new embassy. A petition of local residents has gathered 400 signatures opposing the plans by the Gulf state to cut down nearby trees,...

The Belgian state should consider selling its share in the French banking group BNP Paribas, say an increasing number of politicians. BNP Paribas was recently fined in the US for evading American sanctions over doing business with Cuba, Iran and Sudan. Many find its dealings with Sudan – which...