Belgian news in brief, 13 July 2005

Man kills wife in murder-suicide

A man shot and killed his wife on Tuesday night before turning the gun on himself. The man’s father discovered the two bodies later that evening. The shooting took place in the Kasterlee municipality in Kempen. Police assume the tragedy was a murder-suicide. The couple’s three children were not home when the shootings occurred, newspaper ‘Het Nieuwsblad’ reported.

Gay adoption rights closer

The legislative proposal aimed at granting adoption rights to gays has passed its first test by gaining a majority in the Parliament’s justice commission. The Socialist SP.A, Liberal VLD and Socialist PS backed the proposal, while the Flemish and Wallonian Christian Democrats and Flemish Interest rejected the plan. The commission must vote on the proposal again in September. It is also uncertain whether the legislative proposal will win approval in the full Parliament.

Population increasing quicker

The Belgian population is growing and faster than in previous years. On 1 January 2005, the Belgian population totaled 49,431 people more than the start of 2004. On 1 January the change in population over 2003 was 40,577. There are now 10,445,852 Belgians living in the country, topped by Flanders with a population of 6,043,161, newspaper ‘Het Laatste Nieuws, reported.

Bomb hoax at Sheraton Hotel

The Sheraton Hotel on the Rogierplein in Sint-Joost-ten-Node was searched by police on Tuesday night after a bomb threat was lodged with authorities. An anonymous caller told police at 2.09am that a bomb would explode at the hotel. The call was made from a public phone box in Brabantstraat in Schaarbeek. The Sheraton was evacuated, but no explosives were found.

Subject: Belgian news