Belgium has come last in an international study of children's reading skills, which compared literary skills in 28 developed countries. The Pirls (Progress in International Reading Literacy Study) compared children's reading ability in the fourth year of primary school - around the age of nine and...

Getting help with household chores, such as cleaning and ironing, is increasingly popular in Flanders, according to figures released by the Department of Work and Social Economy. In 2018, residents bought 86.8 million of the service cheques used to pay for domestic help, 2.6 million more than the...

Volvo has recalled 40,000 diesel cars in Belgium for safety reasons, amid concerns of a potential fire hazard in engine components. Many of the recalled vehicles in Belgium were produced at Volvo's factory in Ghent. Worldwide, about half a million vehicles are affected, including 54,000 in Germany...

The official weather warning has been raised from code orange to code red for the first time since the system was introduced 20 years ago, as temperatures are expected to rise further this week. David Dehenauw, the Royal Meteorological Institute’s weather forecaster, made the announcement on...

Perhaps rethink that daytrip to the Belgian coast this Saturday - a union representing SNCB train conductors has called a strike. The SIC union plans a 24-hour walkout from 3.00 on Saturday morning to protest about holiday entitlements and short-staffing. The union wants all on-board assistants to...

A stretch of Brussels' Rue de la Loi has been reduced from four lanes to two until the end of August to allow for roadworks. Cars emerging from the Cinquantenaire tunnel at Schuman will find only the two left-hand lanes of the busy street are accessible. Works are being carried out on the bridge...

Ideology and negative perceptions of democracy and politics were decisive factors in voting behaviour at the elections in May, analysis by researchers in Brussels and Leuven has shown. The elections were notable for the success of radical left- and right-wing parties and for losses for traditional...

Belgium is set to experience another heatwave this week - with temperatures in excess of 35°C, forecasters say. The Royal Meteorological Institute has launched an "orange" alert for high temperatures from Tuesday morning. Tuesday's peak temperature is expected to be around 33°C inland and 28°C on...

It was one of the most spectacular finds on the Waterloo battlefield for years: more than two centuries after the 1815 clash that ended Napoleon Bonaparte’s reign, two British army veterans dug up a 12kg cannonball that had been lying about a metre below the surface of some wheat. Serving...

As society becomes more diverse and doctors find themselves treating a more varied patient population than ever, a Brussels researcher has called for urgent changes to the local medical system to ensure it provides culturally sensitive care. Social health scientist Rose-Lima Van Keer, a PhD student...