Belgium News in English - Expat Guide to Belgium

October 20, 2021

Belgium marks 25 years since serial killer shocked nation

Belgium on Wednesday commemorated 25 years since hundreds of thousands of citizens took to the streets outraged at the government bungling in the case of Marc Dutroux, one of history’s most notorious serial killers. The public outpouring of anger and…

October 18, 2021

Belgian police break up cocaine network, arrest 27

Belgian officials announced Monday they had broken up a cocaine smuggling gang, arresting 27 people in a series of raids during which they seized drugs, guns and luxury goods — including horses. Prosecutors suspect the gang had already brought in…

October 14, 2021

Biracial women taken from African mothers by Belgium go to court

Five biracial women taken from their mothers in Congo 70 years ago demanded reparations from the Belgian state on Thursday, which is accused of “crimes against humanity” for acts committed during the colonial era. Léa, Monique, Simone, Noëlle and Marie-Josée,…

October 10, 2021

Tens of thousands rally in Belgium climate march

Tens of thousands of protesters joined the first major climate march in Brussels since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, weeks before a major climate summit. Police said initial estimates suggested at least 25,000 marchers walked a three-kilometre (two-mile) route…

October 8, 2021

Belgian court ups sentence for EU official over rape

A Belgian court has increased a sentence for a senior EU official found guilty of raping a junior colleague at work to six years in jail, lawyers said Friday. The ruling issued in September toughened a four-year term handed out…

October 1, 2021

Belgian justice charges football agent Zahavi with ‘swindling’

Player agent Pini Zahavi has been charged in Belgium in an investigation into suspected fraud in the 2015 takeover of Belgian football club Mouscron. The 78-year-old Israeli businessman was charged with “forgery and use of forgeries”, “swindling” and “money laundering”…

October 1, 2021

Belgian police charge football agent Zahavi with ‘swindling’

Player agent Pini Zahavi has been charged in Belgium in an investigation into suspected fraud in the 2015 takeover of Belgian football club Mouscron. The 78-year-old Israeli businessman was charged with “forgery and use of forgeries”, “swindling” and “money laundering”…

October 1, 2021

‘Pollution-sniffing’ plane scours Belgium’s coast

Off Belgium’s coast, a small twin-propeller plane swoops above giant freight ships, picking up traces of their exhausts and subjecting them to on-the-spot analyses of sulphur and nitrogen levels. Ships risk a fine if the reading comes out too high….

September 27, 2021

Ex-Catalan leader back in Brussels after Italy arrest

Exiled former Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont was back in Belgium on Monday after his arrest in Italy but said he had no idea of what his fate would be when he goes back for an extradition hearing. “I don’t know”…