The Brussels public transport authority MIVB has bowed to pressure from passengers and renamed one of the two stations at Simonis in the north-east of the city in Koekelberg. The metro site will now be split into stations Simonis and Elisabeth. The problem arose in 2009 with the extension of the...

Up north As luck would have it, Flanders has exactly half of the six recognised Trappist brewers in Belgium: the abbeys of Westmalle, Westvleteren and Achel. Their production, however, is much less than half: about 130,000 hectolitres compared to 186,000 in Wallonia. Of the three, Westvleteren is...

Squatters removed by police from the disused Gesú convent in St-Josse in the early hours of Monday morning have been lodged temporarily in a municipal crisis centre, mayor Emir Kir said. The situation of each of the 119 squatters remaining at the time of the eviction, among them 38 children, will...

Five percent of doctors working in hospital across Belgium suffer from a burnout, while an additional 18% are at serious risk of having one. That is the alarming conclusion of a survey commissioned by the federal public health ministry. The data will be used to develop a policy that deals with and...

Flemish tourism minister Geert Bourgeois unveiled the new Visit Flanders exhibition stand yesterday at the World Travel Market in London. Flanders will be the guest region of the World Travel Market, one of the tourist industry’s largest trade fairs, for the next two years. The new stand ( pictured...

The Flemish authorities will not accept any more adoption requests concerning children from Morocco, while awaiting the outcome of a case before the Cassation Court. The case concerns a child that was placed two years ago with a Flemish couple, who have now been approved for an adoption by the...

Brussels-City mayor Freddy Thielemans has confirmed that he will leave office in December, handing over the chain of office to his long-rumoured successor Yvan Mayeur, chairman of the city's social aid agency CPAS. Thielemans' departure plans were leaked some months ago, but were denied at the time...

The company operating the Brussels waterbus plying the canal between the port and the city of Vilvoorde have said they are satisfied with the results of the service, which closed down for the winter at the weekend. However while the company was hoping to break into the commuter market, most of the...

Brussels Airlines has been rated 121 of 188 international airlines for its climate-friendliness. The ratings were published last week by the German climate-protection group Atmosfair and are based on airlines’ carbon dioxide emissions, or carbon footprint. For years now, Atmosfair points out, car...

Three Nobel Peace Prize laureates took part in a visit to the Westhoek area of West Flanders yesterday, on the eve of their participation in an International Symposium on Science for Peace. Flemish minister-president Kris Peeters accompanied Liberian activist Leymah Gbowee, who won jointly in 2011...