During the past five years, just 32 Belgian nationals who had been given jail sentences by foreign courts have been returned to Belgium to serve their sentences here. This is less than 10% of the 388 who had asked to be repatriated. Of those repatriation requests, 311 were rejected, 32 accepted and...

If Brussels continues to experience its unseasonably warm winter temperatures throughout the month of February, it could break current records for mildest winter. Up until now, the mildest winter registered by the Royal Meteorological Institute (RMI) since it began recording in 1833 was the winter...

The Winter Games will be kicking off in Sochi today. With it, two weeks of imagining Olympic gold – and the accompanying Olympic body – awaits. While a golden medal may not be in your immediate future, getting fit like an Olympian during your stay in Brussels is more than within reach. This article...

George Clooney’s latest film The Monuments Men chronicles the efforts of a group tasked with saving many of Europe’s art treasures from distruction during the Second World War. The story is based on true events that saw some 350 men and women working with Allied countries scour the continent in...

Belgium’s two anticipated Chinese pandas are slated to arrive this Sunday, 23 February. Hao Hao and Xing Hui will make their debut at the Wallonia animal park Pairi Daiza after making the long trip with courier DHL. The pandas are expected to have a traditional going away ceremony before they leave...

Antwerp’s city council has decided to dismiss city architect Kristiaan Borret ( pictured ) and look for a new candidate with “experience in Belgium and internationally”. Borret’s role was to ensure a high standard and consistency in new architecture in the city. Appointed by Patrick Janssens’...

New, stricter rules brought into effect 1 January that were supposed to limit cash payments to prevent money-laundering are being ignored by real estate agents, according to news reports. The latest Belgian legislation forbids payments exceeding 3,000 euros to be made in cash, and in real estate...

The Flemish public broadcaster VRT is closing its permanent news bureaux in Washington, DC, and in Beijing from next year, switching to the use of “pop-up correspondents” instead, the organisation announced yesterday. The broadcaster said that the change was part of a plan to extend international...

What do you do? I work as a chef in the kitchen of the automobile company Volvo. Beyond the daily demands of working in a large corporate kitchen, when the big Volvo bosses come to eat, we are expected to serve higher-end dishes, such as lobster or oysters. To deal with that demand, our kitchen has...