Judit Polgár takes on Prime Minister Bart De Wever in Brussels chess exhibition

Hungarian chess grandmaster Judit Polgár faced Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever and other challengers in a simultaneous exhibition at the Royal Library of Belgium in Brussels…

What did Belgium’s fiery party-leaders’ debate reveal about the political autumn?

Belgium’s five French-speaking party presidents clashed on RTL-TVI on 2 September over purchasing power, taxation, public spending and fossil fuels, exposing the choices facing…

Belgium recorded more strike action in 2025 than in any previous year

Who was Anne Thily, Belgium’s first female prosecutor-general?

Anne Thily, the first woman to serve as a prosecutor-general in Belgium and a central judicial figure during the Dutroux years, died in Liège on 19 August 2026 at the age of 88.

What does the White March still mean to Belgium 30 years later?

Hugues Jossa’s new Belgian documentary La Marche Blanche has returned Jean-Denis Lejeune and the vast 1996 demonstration in Brussels to the national conversation, three decades…

Can Belgium stop rising borrowing costs from becoming a debt trap?

Belgium’s ten-year borrowing rate rose above 3.8% on 19 August, its highest level since 2012, intensifying pressure on Prime Minister Bart De Wever’s federal coalition as it…

Why did Belgium block the Chinese-linked takeover of helicopter operator NHV?

Belgian authorities have blocked the proposed takeover of Ostend-based helicopter operator NHV by Irish leasing company GD Helicopter Finance, citing risks to national security,…

Can Belgian doctor Hans Kluge win the race to lead the WHO?

Belgium’s first national climate-risk assessment exposes major preparedness gaps

Belgium’s Climate Risk Assessment Center has identified 28 major climate and ecosystem risks and concluded that adaptation policies need strengthening, adding official weight to…

Belgium lifts weather alerts as unsettled Atlantic conditions return

Belgium has no active weather warnings as of 12:00 on Monday, 17 August, replacing an earlier alert picture with a cooler, unsettled forecast.

Why has the number of registered jobseekers in Brussels climbed towards 100,000?

Actiris counted 99,458 registered jobseekers in Brussels at the end of August 2026, 4.9% more than a year earlier, as weak growth, fewer vacancies and benefit reforms combined to…

What does Brussels-West’s €1 million crime haul really tell us?

The Brussels-West Anti-Banditry Brigade seized €1,003,980 in cash between January and early September 2026, alongside drugs and counterfeit cigarettes, according to figures…

Which Brussels business grants have stopped, and what can entrepreneurs still claim?

Brussels Economy Minister Laurent Hublet has defended the early closure of several 2026 business-grant schemes after funding ran short, arguing that warning entrepreneurs in…

5 things to know about Jamal Ikazban’s reported arrival at parking.brussels

La DH reported on 5 September that former PS alderman Jamal Ikazban is set to chair parking.brussels, where he wants the regional agency to reassess parking prices and improve its…

Can queer people in central Brussels simply feel at home?

Three central-Brussels housemates—two queer residents and an ally—have presented their shared home as a place where identity and relationships need not become a recurring topic, a…

Should Brussels revive its Koban neighbourhood police units to confront the shootings?

Can Belgium stop Brussels drug bosses from directing violence from prison?

Ixelles secondary school evacuated after bomb alert

MR ties €131 million in Brussels housing funds to Mostefa’s departure

MR president Georges-Louis Bouchez said on 3 September that his party would withhold a planned €131 million recapitalisation of Brussels’ regional housing company while Lotfi…

Brussels restaurant Flamme closes temporarily after kitchen fire

Restaurant Flamme in Saint-Gilles has announced a temporary closure following an August fire in its kitchen extraction system, La Libre reported on Thursday.

Why is Antwerp restoring the pipelines of its first petroleum age?

The Flemish government has committed €350,000 to conserve and restore the historic above-ground pipelines at Petroleum Zuid in Antwerp, preserving a rare remnant of the…

Three girls injured by falling stage section at Sint-Job-in-’t-Goor festival

Three girls aged seven and eight were injured on Saturday when part of a festival stage came down during the Ballekesfeesten in Sint-Job-in-’t-Goor, according to reports by Het…

Which home-grown product best captures East Flanders in 2026?

Made in Oost-Vlaanderen has opened the fourth edition of its regional product competition, inviting companies to nominate goods, software and applications made in East Flanders by…

Are climate-related courses becoming the new career choice in Flanders?

Syntra Midden-Vlaanderen reported on 2 September that enrolments in electrical and refrigeration courses had doubled compared with August 2025, while HVAC programmes attracted up…

Four-car collision in Hasselt sends one man to hospital

Can a new generation bring Vosselaar’s free Nokout festival back to life?

Genk measurements confirm urban trees and shade reduce heat stress

Who can steady Musea Brugge after its director’s sudden departure?

Aalter firefighter Bart Verheyde heads to New York for 25th anniversary of 9/11

Aalter volunteer firefighter Bart Verheyde will leave Belgium on Saturday for a ten-day visit to New York and Washington, joining nine other Belgian firefighters for events…

Flanders, the Netherlands and Germany strengthen joint defences against major wildfires

Can Liège’s mass river clean-up turn one day of volunteering into lasting change?

River Cleanup and local partners are preparing a public clean-up along the Meuse, Ourthe and Dérivation in Liège on 19 September, linking a Walloon volunteer effort to World…

Why are literacy organisations preparing street action in Charleroi?

Record High Fens fire exposes limits of Belgium’s wildfire capacity

Can Wallonia fill the 10,600 construction jobs employers plan to recruit for in 2026?

Verviers adds wildfire vigilance to planning after High Fens blaze

What does Charleroi’s final tribute to Jacques Van Gompel say about his complicated legacy?

Charleroi’s municipal councillors paid tribute on 31 August to former mayor Jacques Van Gompel, who died in Gilly on 21 August aged 79, closing a fortnight of official and…

Scientists test wildfire prediction model during High Fens blaze

Scientists have tested a fire-prediction model against the wildfire in Belgium’s High Fens, with initial comparisons showing promising results, according to VRT NWS.

How does TEC Hainaut turn new recruits into bus drivers?

LeTEC strike halts Charleroi buses and cuts one in three Liège-Verviers journeys

A 48-hour LeTEC strike halted all buses in Charleroi and cancelled about one journey in three across Liège-Verviers on Thursday 27 August, with further disruption scheduled for…

Yellow rain alert brought heavy showers to Wallonia and Brussels

Belgium’s yellow rain warning expired late on Wednesday, 19 August, after covering Brussels, every Walloon province and Flemish Brabant as heavy showers crossed the country.

What caused the Lisbon-area bus crash that killed two women?

A bus struck pedestrians at the Agualva-Cacém transport terminal near Lisbon on 7 July, killing two women and injuring 20 people; the operator’s internal review later pointed to…

Why is Brussels giving Belgium leeway over its late nature-restoration plan?

Spain records 45.7°C as wildfire forces evacuations in southern France

Spain recorded its highest temperature of 2026 in El Granado on Thursday, while a wildfire in France’s southern Ardèche department forced about 30 people from a hamlet and…

What does Washington’s sweeping Venezuela oil arrangement mean for Belgium?

Can Brussels Airlines crews refuse to fly to Tel Aviv without facing sanctions?

Brussels Airlines confirmed on 3 September that pilots and cabin crew may declare themselves unfit to operate Tel Aviv services without repercussions, after a disputed flight left…

Ukrainian veteran’s Kyiv letter lays bare the fear of round-the-clock Russian attacks

Ukrainian veteran Roman Trokhymets has published a first-person dispatch describing how intensifying Russian attacks have led him to consider keeping an escape rope, respirator…

Unidentified drone crossed into Bulgaria and exploded near strategic gas pipeline

What is known about the knife attack on two Belgian tourists in Naples?

Two 18-year-old Belgian tourists were injured in a violent robbery in central Naples, with one stabbed in the abdomen and the other punched as attackers allegedly seized a gold…

Why is a Leuven family travelling into Nepal’s flood zone to help rebuild its village?

Who protects merchant seafarers as the Black Sea war reaches their ships?

Twelve seafarers aboard the ageing Volgo-Don 5021 recovered $83,000 in unpaid wages after an August 2026 strike in Samsun, according to El Mundo, but their case exposed a wider…

Can Rumst’s open-door sports month turn free trials into lasting habits?

Rumst’s sports clubs have opened their September training sessions to residents as part of Flanders’ 2026 Maand van de Sportclub, offering young people up to three free trials and…

Can world champion Lilian Odira conquer Brussels’ formidable 800-metre field?

Kenyan 800-metre world champion Lilian Odira is confirmed for the Memorial Van Damme in Brussels on Saturday, adding the reigning global champion to a powerful Diamond League…

Why did demand for Leuven’s Eindejaarscorrida overwhelm its website?

Heavy demand for places in Leuven’s 2026 Eindejaarscorrida overwhelmed the registration website when sales opened on 1 September, and organisers were still reporting access…

Can Waregem’s Year of the Horse turn a European championship into a lasting legacy?

Flanders launched the Lotto Year of the Horse in Waregem on 25 August, beginning a region-wide public programme that will culminate in Belgium’s first senior FEI Jumping European…

Why are West Flanders’ football clubs turning to teenagers before the new season?

SK Roeselare, RFC Knokke and Jong Essevee added teenage players to their squads in early August, while William Dutoit left his coaching role at Thierry Ambrose’s FC Trust project.

What does the final Choc Wallon verdict mean for Standard and Charleroi?

Belgian football’s Disciplinary Council has ordered Standard Liège and Sporting Charleroi to play one home match each behind closed doors and fined both clubs €10,000 after…

What do six-figure foal sales at the Brussels Stephex Masters reveal about Belgian show jumping?

Two foals fetched more than €100,000 at the Stephex Exclusive Breeding Collection auction in Wolvertem, underlining Belgium’s international influence in show-jumping breeding…

Can Van De Geuchte and Madiani change the balance in West Flanders’ provincial league?

SV Wevelgem City signed defender Gauthier Van De Geuchte from neighbouring FC Gullegem on 20 August, while Sparta Heestert recruited former French professional Aristote Madiani…

Drammeh double gives Standard first win in lively Walloon derby

Standard de Liège beat RAAL La Louvière 2-0 at Sclessin after substitute Salieu Drammeh scored twice in six second-half minutes, securing the Liège club’s first Jupiler Pro League…

How did 540 KLJ members turn Groot Veerle into one vast summer camp?

KLJ Sint-Lenaarts brought about 540 members from 17 Antwerp provincial branches together in Groot Veerle, Brecht, on Sunday 23 August for a regional sports festival combining…

What does Renaud Hardy’s death in Bruges prison mean for his victims?

Renaud Hardy, the Belgian serial killer serving a life sentence for two murders, two rapes and two attempted murders, died aged 64 in the medical unit of Bruges prison on 9 July…

Why did Charleroi judges impose eight years for attacking an ex-partner and her mother?

The Charleroi Criminal Court sentenced a man to eight years in prison on 13 August for two attempted murders committed against his former partner and her mother in Carnières on…

Why is Belgium’s judiciary warning politicians after the Grégory Lenoci judgment?

Belgium’s College of Courts and Tribunals has urged political officeholders to act responsibly after judges in Namur received threats following Grégory Lenoci’s 17-year prison…

Why did a Liège court impose a one-year prison term for selling two heroin wraps?

The Liège criminal court sentenced a repeat offender to one year in prison and a €10,000 fine for selling two wraps of heroin in the city centre, a judgment that highlights…

What does the Liège partner-violence case mean for victims seeking help in Belgium?

A man is being prosecuted before the Liège criminal court over allegations that he strangled his partner and held a cushion over her face; he denies the accusations, and no…

Why has the Grégory Lenoci verdict divided Belgium over justice and vigilantism?

A Namur court sentenced Grégory Lenoci to 17 years in prison on 20 August for attempting to assassinate his neighbour, after supporters demonstrated outside the courthouse and…

Anne Thily, Belgium’s first woman prosecutor-general, dies in Liège

Anne Thily, the former Liège prosecutor-general who became the first woman to hold that rank in Belgium, died in Liège on 19 August 2026. Her tenure encompassed the institutional…

Is Flanders ready for Belgium’s new Criminal Code?

What does Friday’s raadkamer hearing mean in the fatal Heusden-Zolder case?

A man described as a friend of the person killed in a fatal collision linked to Heusden-Zolder is due before the raadkamer on Friday after an investigating judge placed him under…

Why was a young Belgian suspect rearrested over the killing of student Jasin in Spain?

Belgian and Dutch fugitive teams arrested a 19-year-old man near Ghent on 25 June 2026 over the fatal shooting of 25-year-old Dutch national Jasin A. in Fuengirola, Spain, in…

What does Brussels-West’s €1 million cash seizure reveal about the illicit economy?

The Brussels-West Anti-Banditry Brigade seized €1,003,980 in cash between January and early September 2026, alongside drugs and counterfeit cigarettes, according to figures…

Sold-out Antwerp technorave faces neighbourhood protest over disruption and consultation

A petition signed by 453 people is challenging the sold-out Chaos in the City technorave, which is due to bring 14,000 visitors to the square outside Antwerp’s KMSKA on 5…

Why has Belgium’s Court of Audit sharply criticised the financing of the Liège tram?

Belgium’s Court of Audit has sharply criticised the financial management of the Liège tram project, whose dedicated Walloon budget allocation reaches €40.015 million in 2026, up…

5 things to know about Charleroi’s shop-window prize contest

Charleroi CentreVille launched a six-day promotion on 31 August involving 48 shops: customers spending at least €20 can estimate the value of a prize-filled window and compete to…

What does Flanders’ first seven-day artisan bakery reveal about Belgium’s new shop rules?

Brood en Banket Neirinck in Machelen-aan-de-Leie has moved to seven-day opening after Belgium abolished the compulsory weekly closing day on 13 August, making the family bakery an…

What does the burglary at a leading Uccle chocolatier reveal about business security in Brussels?

Burglars targeted Jérôme Grimonpon’s chocolate shop in Uccle, prompting the award-winning artisan to voice a loss of confidence in Brussels as official figures show that shop…

How did Louis-Marie Piron go from struggling student to a Walloon business heavyweight?

Thomas & Piron is marking its 50th anniversary in 2026 with a new chief executive and nearly 3,000 employees, turning Louis-Marie Piron’s improvised start in rural Wallonia into a…

Rihanna sighting adds star power to A$AP Rocky’s Brussels tour launch

Will the new auction rule hollow out Nieuwpoort’s fish market?

Nieuwpoort’s council has approved a new agreement governing Belgium’s three fish auctions that prevents catches from a single voyage being divided between Belgian and foreign…

Can Antwerp Airport survive after TUI leaves its scheduled-flight business behind?

Why has Els van Doesburg’s call to ‘make babies’ divided Flanders?

What does the Brussels-Midi weapons arrest mean for passengers?

A judge placed the man arrested with a loaded Kalashnikov-type firearm at Brussels-Midi in provisional detention on 4 September 2026 while investigators examine why he was…

What does ‘collective housing’ mean for the 12-room Saint-Georges project in Tournai?

Antwerp will host the 2027 Ig Nobel Prize ceremony

Organisers of the Ig Nobel Prizes confirmed on 3 September 2026 that Antwerp will host the international ceremony in 2027. The date, venue and ticket arrangements have not yet…

What can visitors expect from Monster Chetwynd’s Middelheim performance weekend?

Monster Chetwynd will stage a free performance weekend at Antwerp’s Middelheim Museum on 12 and 13 September 2026, activating her outdoor exhibition with participatory…

What will Lost Frequencies bring to a landmark Brussels restaurant?

Brussels DJ Lost Frequencies and three partners have taken over the former Toucan sur Mer premises in Ixelles, with a renamed Mediterranean restaurant provisionally due to open in…

Are Belgium and the Netherlands becoming a narco-state?

VRT released the four-part documentary series Drugsdelta on 1 September 2026, examining how cocaine trafficking connects Antwerp and Rotterdam with production regions and…

Does the latest court defeat end Trump’s fight over ‘birth tourism’?

A federal judge in Maryland blocked Donald Trump’s renewed attempt to deny US citizenship to broad categories of US-born children on 2 September 2026. For Belgian travellers, the…

Did blue-green algae sink Ghent’s open-water swimming experiment?

Ghent’s three temporary open-water swimming zones remained closed through their final scheduled day on 30 August 2026 after cyanobacteria kept the water below safety requirements.…

Did Balagan World turn Brussels’ canal into an international house-music crossroads?

Brussels collective Balagan World scheduled its largest open-air event to date at Quai de Heembeek on 29 August, pairing international house figures Folamour, Seth Troxler and…

What will ZOL Genk’s €540 million hospital overhaul change for patients?

Ziekenhuis Oost-Limburg has moved into the implementation phase of a major building and renovation programme at Campus Sint-Jan in Genk, with the complete programme now reported…

How has Inkendaal kept children learning while they rehabilitate for 50 years?

Ziekenhuisschool Inkendaal in Vlezenbeek has opened a year of celebrations marking 50 years of official recognition, highlighting a Belgian model that combines tailored education,…

Can Leuven’s donor-tissue technique really end lifelong anti-rejection treatment?

What does West Nile virus in around ten Flemish horses mean for people in Belgium?

Flemish health authorities said on 3 September 2026 that around ten horses in Vlaanderen had contracted West Nile virus, while no locally acquired human infection had been…

Could a Brussels-backed study change how Belgium prevents migraine?

UZ Brussel neurologist Jan Versijpt has co-authored an international trial finding that atogepant prevented migraine more effectively and caused fewer treatment withdrawals than…

Did a swim in the Ourthe infect seven Flemish teenagers with salmonella?

Seven Flemish teenagers at a holiday camp near Liège have been diagnosed with salmonella after swimming in the Ourthe, according to Het Nieuwsblad, but the precise source of the…

Belgium faces vast care-building renovation gap as heatwaves intensify

La Libre reported on 10 August that 95% of Belgium’s care homes and hospitals require renovation by 2050, drawing renewed attention to whether ageing healthcare buildings can…

Can Antwerp’s planned Oncopolis bring cancer research closer to patients?

The University of Antwerp and Antwerp University Hospital plan to establish a cancer-research centre called Oncopolis on the UZA campus in Edegem, using a substantial private…

Can a Leuven café’s split terrace ease Belgium into its 2027 smoking ban?

Leuven eetcafé Kaminsky has divided its terrace into smoking and non-smoking sections ahead of Belgium’s planned federal ban on smoking and vaping on hospitality terraces from 1…

Why is Flanders still using a pneumococcal vaccine that misses the strain killing children?

Four young children in Flanders have died since 2025 from invasive pneumococcal infections caused by the emerging 12F serotype, according to figures confirmed by the Flemish…