Belgian news in brief, 3 November 2005

Flemish jobless rates falls

Unemployment in Flanders in October was 1.4 percent lower than the same month last year. It was the first decline on unemployment on an annual basis in five years, the Flemish Public Employment Service said on Thursday. However, Flemish Employment Minister Frank Vandenbroucke said “unemployment is still at an unacceptably high level compared with 2000”. The unemployment rate was 8.8 percent in October, with 241,114 jobless workers, 3,346 fewer than October 2004.

Belgian treasure hunter strikes

Belgian treasure hunter Luc Heymans has discovered a million-euro treasure in a sunken ship off the Indonesian coast. A 10-member team spent 18 months and conducted 24,000 diving expeditions to bring the treasure to the surface. The treasure was made up of 250,000 pieces of rare Chinese porcelain, perfume jar, a golden sword hilt, 14,000 pearls and more than 4,000 gem stones.

Antwerp most popular gay night life city

Antwerp is the most popular night life city among Belgium’s gay community. In a survey on www.gaybelgium.be, 33 percent of the 1,047 survey respondents said they prefer to go out in Antwerp. Only 15 percent opted for Brussels. Ghent was second most popular, gaining 23 percent of the votes. However, the website also said the survey was held on the Dutch-language side of the portal and that Brussels nightlife does not have a friendly attitude to gays.

50 plusses have sex each week

The majority of people aged over 50 have sex on average at least once per week up until the age of 70, a survey from last year’s Zenith fair has revealed. The fair is for people aged 50 or older. Visitors could fill in a survey about their sex and love life. Some 2,098 people completed the survey and the results indicated that older citizens have sex on average six times per month. They spend 15 minutes on foreplay.

Subject: Belgian news