Madness were yesterday announced as the biggest name to grace the bill of this year’s Brussels Summer Festival. The London legends will play at the Place des Palais on August 11 as the band, currently promoting their latest album, Oui Oui Si Si Ja Ja Da Da , carry on their royal residence theme,...

Populist Italian comedian-turned-politician Beppe Grillo has hailed Belgium as proof that a country can function with a caretaker government. Pier Luigi Bersani yesterday gave up his efforts to try and form a coalition, handing in his resignation to president Giorgio Napolitano, who this morning...

Airport customer service agent Gertjan Vos, 24, from Antwerp talks about what he earns and how he spends it. What do you do for a living? I have two part-time jobs, both as a passenger service agent – one for American Airlines, the other for Aviapartner. I check passengers in, do the boarding and...

Belgium’s love affair with fantasy comes alive once a year with the Brussels International Fantastic Film Fair from Tuesday until April 13. The 31st edition swaps Tour & Taxis for the more spacious Bozar in a programme offering more than 100 feature films, many of them premieres. BIFFF opens on...

Belgian authorities searching the home of a terror suspect who was shot dead after a motorway pursuit found an arsenal of terrorist weapons at his flat in Anderlecht. Prosecutors confirmed the man was born in 1973 and came from Algeria, later joining the Foreign Legion, before moving to Belgium...

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) yesterday denounced the “media censorship” it claims took place at the ceremony at which Belgian deputy prime minister Didier Reynders received the Legion of Honour from former French president Nicolas Sarkozy. Sarkozy was last week placed under...

A major survey among Belgian teenagers has indicated anti-Semitism is seven times more prevalent among Muslim youths than in non-Muslim teenagers, reports the Jewish Telegraphic Agency . Conducted in recent months by three universities for the Flemish government, the survey was published last month...

Supermarket chain Carrefour regularly overcharges its customers, reports De Standaard, with items more expensive at the checkout than indicated in the aisles. This twice came to light via the VRT consumer programme Volt. More than a year ago, a Volt crew conducted tests in several Carrefour stores...

The Belgian economy is hampered by a loss of competitive edge and structural problems as the government cuts back spending, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said yesterday. Belgium is likely to eke out growth of 0.2% this year and just over 1% next year, the IMF said in a regular review,...

Belgian police are today expected to display guns, ammunition and explosives seized after a motorway chase ended in a fatal shootout with a man suspected of terrorist links. Police shot dead the man, of Algerian origin, after he opened fire on them yesterday afternoon on the A8 linking Brussels and...