The owner of a neighbourhood bar in Ternat, a few kilometres west of Brussels, has made off with €50,000 of her customers’ savings. The woman stole the cash from the spaarkas , or savings boxes, located in the bar. What? I hear you asking. Why would anyone keep money in a bar? Because some people...

Both players and fans went wild yesterday when the Belgian Cats qualified for the summer Olympic Games for the first time. The women’s basketball team had the pleasure of playing the qualifier tournament in their home turf of Ostend. The win over Sweden yesterday has assured the team a place at the...

Every year, thousands of tonnes of wood from the Sonian Forest is shipped to China - where it is made into objects that may well come back to Europe at great environmental cost. Now a new Brussels co-operative has been formed with the aim of keeping the wood here and transforming it locally,...

Firefighters were inundated with more than 700 calls for help in Brussels alone, as Storm Ciara brought winds gusting up to 130kph across Belgium on Sunday night. The Royal Meteorological Institute's weather warning for strong winds has been extended to 23.00 on Monday evening. It had previously...

Brussels' university district, around Ixelles cemetery, has been named one of the coolest neighbourhoods in Europe by The Guardian. The British newspaper selected 10 "less-touristy" districts where it said visitors could "really get under the skin of Europe's great cities". It says of the...

Cycling continues to gain ground as a popular way of getting around Brussels, fuelled by the growth of electric bicycles, new figures reveal. Bike use was up 9% last year, according to the Brussels Bike Observatory, based on data collected by volunteers from Pro Velo ASBL at several dozen counting...

Felix De Laet, better known as Lost Frequencies, brought the house down at the MIAs, as Flanders’ music industry handed out its annual prizes. The electronic music producer (on piano) performed “Sun is Shining” together with his collaborators. A gospel choir took the stage to join in on the lyrics...

Flemish companies are struggling to fill vacancies in a growing number of professions, according to government employment agency VDAB. Its updated list of bottleneck jobs has 21 new entries this year, making 188 areas where employers find it difficult to find suitable candidates. New entries on the...

While we won’t pretend that Belgium is perfect, we would like to offer this reminder for you to thank your lucky stars that you live in the country where the best beer in the world can be had for a pittance. Het Laatste Nieuws has reported that a bar in New York is charging customers – some of whom...

A storm front will move through Belgium at the weekend, bringing with it winds of up to 100kph. While storm ‘Ciara’ will be largely over by the early hours of Monday morning, strong winds will continue into next week. Friday will see mild and pleasant weather, with even a bit of sun, but things...