A Belgian court yesterday rejected a rare attempt at a child sex class action suit against the Holy See filed in 2011 by 39 alleged victims of priests and church workers. The court in Ghent said the Holy See, which represents the Pope and the Vatican government, "is considered to be a state...

STIB’s board of directors yesterday agreed a new fares schedule for 2014. Most tickets and season tickets will increase slightly, the Sudpresse newspapers report today. Season tickets for children, students, OAPs and people on benefits will remain unchanged, however. A ‘Jump’ single ticket will now...

Anyone who accidentally makes a mistake when filling in their tax return will be liable to pay a €50 fine, De Standaard and Het Nieuwsblad report today. Until recently, the taxman turned a blind eye when a taxpayer made a genuine mistake, but the period of leniency is over. "First offense: €50," it...

Two MPs, Catherine Fonck and Mie-Jeanne Nyanga-Lu, have introduced a bill which prohibits "the sale of sweets and toys for children, with the intention of giving the product or its packaging the appearance of a product containing tobacco," reports La Dernière Heure. Chocolate and chewing gum...

German electronics group Media Markt - Saturn today announced its intentions to end the Saturn brand in Belgium, writes Retail Detail’s Gary Peeters . While most of the Saturn stores will continue under the Media Markt banner, the Antwerp branch will be closed. The changes mark the end of a six-...

Belgium's ambassador to Beijing, Michel Malherbe, is in talks to free more than 1,000 racing pigeons detained by Chinese authorities in a dispute over import duties, writes the Guardian’s Tania Branigan . Officials impounded 1,600 birds that had been sold to Chinese enthusiasts at auction in...

Despite numerous hygiene awareness campaigns, the number of hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) has failed to go down, De Standaard and Het Nieuwsblad report. Not only are the infections more dangerous, they are also largely caused by doctors with dirty hands. Approximately 6% of patients contract...

Around 200 Bulgarians were exploited for months by a contractor on a NATO building site in Brussels, La Dernière Heure reports. The information only came to light during an investigation into illegal practices on the site of the future prison in Marche-en-Famenne, Namur province, which has resulted...

Israeli security officials said Sunday that they have arrested a Belgian businessman of Iranian descent for spying on Israel and gathering intelligence on possible terrorism targets, writes the Washington Post’s William Booth . Israel’s Shin Bet domestic intelligence service released photographs...