Sonja Becq of the Flemish socialist party (SP.A) presented a proposal yesterday to change the pension system by scrapping the right to a pension at 65 years in favour of the award of a pension after 42 years of work. “More and more people are agreeing with the idea that the number of years worked...

Verstraete is one half of Housestories, a company that offers furnished flats with a difference. “There are thousands of furnished apartments in Brussels,” she says, “but when you look closer, you find that few of them are high-quality. Most are either put together on the cheap or sterile and...

London-based Irishman Andrew Maxwell leads the laughs at Stand-up comedy night at Théâtre 140 on January 18. The triple billing features the UK circuit stalwart who excels in intelligently crafted travelogues that shun the usual clichés. Warming-up the evening are British Tamil former maths teacher...

The Socialist trade union has asked other public services in the capital about the presence of asbestos in their buildings. The union’s health and safety expert, Marc Duplessis, says that many public services were unable to provide an inventory of asbestos present in their buildings, despite this...

The fossils belong to a common ancestor of dogs, cats, bears and other carnivores. With 250 fossilised teeth, scientists were able to map the full dental structure of the Dormaalocyon latouri . This predecessor of cats and dogs, one of the so-called “carnivoraforms”, lived about 55 million years...

The sudden and unplanned departure of Bellens left Belgacom – which is still state-controlled, with the government holding 50% of the shares plus one – somewhat rudderless, coinciding with the arrival of brand-new chair Stefaan De Clerck. US-based headhunters Russell Reynolds were brought in...

Pauwels’ son Eddy said that he “agreed 110% with Father” to end his life when prospects offered no hope. In Belgium, euthanasia is legal for adults and is set to soon become the second country in the world to allow it to minors. More than 1,400 people a year choose the option. Last year Pauwels won...

An increasing number of buskers and beggars on public transport in Brussels are being fined and ejected from the vehicle. New figures show that last year the number of people being fined for busking on the network rocketed from just 12 in 2012 to 128. An Van Hamme, spokesperson for Brussels’...

Despite a growing population, regional tax in Belgium has levelled off in Brussels. Officials are trying to understand why, with an increase of nearly 20,000 housing units between 2009 and 2013 there exists a drop in tax revenues from the regional budget. Each household pays a flat fee of 89 Euros...

Education ministers from the three Belgian language communities held their first “interministerial conference” this week, in the presence of King Philippe. The ministers will continue to meet, though without the king’s presence, twice a year. The first conference led to an agreement on measures to...