Belgium News in English - Expat Guide to Belgium

April 5, 2019

Belgium holds 60 in sweep against Albanian gangsters

Police have detained more than 60 suspects and seized thousands of cannabis plants in a major operation against Albanian gangsters spanning Belgium, France and the Netherlands, Belgian prosecutors said Friday. A three-day wave of raids beginning on Wednesday netted more…

April 4, 2019

Four-legged prehistoric whale fossil found in Peru

Paleontologists have found a well-preserved fossil of a four-legged amphibian ancestor of whales, a discovery that sheds new light on the mammals’ transition from land to the ocean. The ancestors of whales and dolphins walked on Earth about 50 million…

April 4, 2019

Belgium seeks to punish owner of ‘Sugar Daddy’ site

Belgian prosecutors are seeking a suspended prison sentence for an entrepreneur accused of promoting prostitution through a dating site for rich men and young women. Sigurd Vedal — a 57-year-old Norwegian investor, influencer and “relationship expert”, according to his site…

March 31, 2019

Missing Rubens sketch goes for $1.4 mn at auction

A lost sketch by Flemish Baroque master Peter Paul Rubens was sold at auction on Sunday for $1.46 million (1.3 million euros) after being rediscovered due to an inheritance, French auctioneers said. The work which depicts Saint Margaret dressed in…

March 28, 2019

German auto parts maker ZF buys US firm WABCO for $7bn

German auto parts maker ZF Friedrichshafen said Thursday it had bought US-Belgian firm WABCO for around seven billion dollars to become the world’s third biggest supplier of auto parts. The board of directors of WABCO, which specialises in truck brakes,…

March 22, 2019

‘Anything is possible’ on Brexit, says EU’s Tusk

EU Council President Donald Tusk said Friday that all Brexit options are on the table until the new April 12 deadline, including Britain cancelling its withdrawal. Prime Minister Theresa May returned to Britain to try for a third time to…

March 22, 2019

Belgian carnival may lose UNESCO status over ‘anti-Semitic’ float

The United Nations’ cultural agency said Friday it would consider removing a popular Belgian carnival from its world heritage list for featuring a float it deemed “racist and anti-Semitic”. Earlier this month the popular carnival in Aalst near Brussels, known…

March 19, 2019

Bomb scare in Brussels EU quarter

Part of the European quarter in Brussels was evacuated on Tuesday, just two days before a European summit following a bomb threat to a lobbying firm. The call was received by GPLUS, a public affairs and strategic communications consulting firm…

March 17, 2019

Belgian pigeon flies high in record 1.25 million euros auction

A star racing pigeon named Armando has fetched a record 1.25 million euros in an online auction, Belgian media reported Sunday. The prized bird — Belgian’s best long-distance racer of all time according to those in the know — was…