Search form

menu menu

Among the stacks: Belgium’s 6 most beautiful libraries

If two weeks after the end of Brussels’ Book Fair at Tour and Taxis you still find yourself suffering from book withdrawal, maybe it’s time to go exploring some of Belgium’s beautiful spaces devoted to the written word: its libraries. All over the country, public and private, standing alone or in...

Culture beat – 13 March

Painting the city green this week is the city’s vibrant Irish community. Topping the celebrations is the St Patrick’s Day Parade on Sunday. The family-friendly event starts at 13.00 in Cinquantenaire Park. Organised by the Irish in Europe Association , it is led by the Brussels Caledonian...

Belgium on drugs

Last week, Belgium had a bit of a drug problem. First, one tonne of cocaine, with an estimated street value of €50 million, was fished out of the North Sea off the coast of Ostend. A few days later, a shopper in Verviers, Wallonia got a special surprise when he or she found three grams of cocaine...

Socialist public sector union to strike on 22 April

The socialist trade union for public sector workers, ACOD, has called for a general strike on Wednesday, 22 April. The action, which will affect rail, post, school and government offices across the entire country, is in protest at recent federal government policies. The actions are in response to...

Waterloo coin scrapped due to French protest

Belgium will not get a new €2 coin in commemoration of the Battle of Waterloo, which took place 200 years ago, ending the reign of French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte. Belgium has scrapped plans for the creation of the coin after France made its opposition clear. In a letter to the European Council,...

Lessons in religion no longer obligatory in Belgium

Belgium’s Constitutional Court has ruled that children should not be required to follow religion or morals lessons in the country’s primary and secondary schools. Parents can now simply request that their children do not receive such lessons. A year ago, a Brussels couple took the issue of...

PSA Peugeot Citroën to cut nearly 100 jobs in Belgium

The Belgian importer of French automotive group PSA Peugeot Citroën is to reduce its workforce by 96 employees, the company announced on Thursday during a special meeting at its Belgian headquarters in Braine-l’Alleud. The entire staff in Belgium will be downsized by about a quarter. The...

One in five babies in Belgium born by caesarean

The number of babies born by caesarean section in Europe varies greatly from country to country, suggesting that there is no consensus about when a caesarean is appropriate, according to a recent study. In Belgium, one in five babies are born by caesarean section, a relatively low number compared...

Performatik festival brings disparate worlds closer together

To the uninitiated, “performance art” seems a rather vague category, a taxonomical catch-all for any experience that is endured in an artistic context but doesn’t quite qualify as “theatre” or “dance”—usually because it’s too weird or too boring. The cognoscenti, on the other hand, consider it the...

Unions plan more protests this month

Some 8,000 workers representing the country’s three largest unions demonstrated yesterday on Muntplein in central Brussels in protest at the government’s proposed pension reforms. Union leaders said that further protests were planned this month to show their opposition to government measures such...

Pages