The prestigious Michelin Green Guide has granted three stars to Pairi Daiza. The animal and nature park is the only new attraction to be awarded three stars in the 2015/2016 edition, which will be released this week.

13/04/15 - Germany's John Degenkolb celebrated his victory in Paris-Roubaix in an East-Flemish hotel in Nazareth (near Deinze) just hours after his triumph. Degenkolb celebrated with his whole team, but also with his family. His baby boy Leo gave him extra strength, he told the VRT.

13/04/15 - The Belgian theatre great Ivo Van Hove has won an Olivier Award in London. Van Hove won the prize for Best Director for his play 'A View from the Bridge' which was performed at the Young Vic and Wyndham's theatre. Get a taste of the play and listen to his short speech.

Leuven photographer Koen De Langhe has taken first place in the category 'Nature & Wildlife' in the World Photographic Cup, a competition between professional photographers from different countries. "I took this photo around the same time last year at the Hallerbos", says Mr De Langhe. "Nowadays, the forest is in full bloom again. So it's the ideal time for everyone to get out there and take some stunning pictures."

Belgian Health Minister Maggie De Block (Flemish liberals) and several experts fear that the Aedes Albopictur, or Asian tiger mosquito, will be settling here in Belgium. The mosquito, which spreads the Dengue fever and yellow fever, is normally not found around here. But since 2013, the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp is regularly finding the insect in cargo that enters the country through harbours or airports.

The 19-year-old referee Lothar Van Impe had to be taken to hospital on Sunday after he got beaten up during a game in the provincial league. "I won't let this deter me. I refuse to give up my passion and big dream", he told reporters, despite the fact that he had already been assaulted in 2012.

Yesterday afternoon, a horse ran amok and severely injured a man at the beach of Knokke-Heist. During a beach horse ride of six, one equestrian fell off her horse. The animal then went on a rampage and injured a beach stroller, who suffered several severe fractures.

In football, defending champions Anderlecht suffered a humiliating 3-1 defeat at Standard on the second day of play of the season-ending title play-offs. This means that the 3 title favourites, all of which started off with with a victory last weekend, were beaten this weekend. This puts the 6-team mini-competition back to square one after 2 of 10 days of play.

12 per cent of Flemish youngsters is prone to financially risky behaviour. Within this group, 10 percent is already even in debt, be it relatively limited. Researchers are calling on the parents of the teenagers to intervene if necessary.

The Belgian theatre great Ivo Van Hove has won an Olivier Award in London. Van Hove won the prize for Best Director for his play 'A View from the Bridge' which was performed at the Young Vic and Wyndham's theatre.

It was a remarkable sight in the Paris-Roubaix cycling classic: when the barriers went down at a level crossing in Northern France, the first riders of the bunch refused to stop and just continued, risking their own lives just before a high-speed train passed just seconds later. The Belgian company responsible for rail infrastructure, Infrabel, is furious.

Three Flemings played a leading role in the final of the famous cobble stone classic Paris-Roubaix, before Germany's John Degenkolb set up an impressive solo effort to win the legendary cycle race in the sprint. Degenkolb thus emulates Sean Kelly, the only one to won both Milan-Sanremo and Paris-Roubaix in the same spring. Bradley Wiggins was good, but just not good enough.

The Flemish liberal leader Gwendolyn Rutten followed Hillary Clinton's previous attempt to become the Democrats' nominee for the American presidency from close by. She says that Clinton will have a better chance now than 8 years ago.

12/04/15 - The Leuven-based organisation 'Mobile School' organised a 5th consecutive edition of its street sleep in the heart of the city, to hightlight the fate of an estimated 150 million street children. Mobile School aims to bring education to street children via mobile school systems.

12/04/15 - The West-Flemish city of Ieper is staging a big street theatre festival called "Gevleugelde Stad" (City on Wings) this weekend. Street theatre companies are showing what they can to promoters that come in from various West-European countries, hoping to fetch a contract to go on tour. Only 80 companies made it, while some 250 had to be refused, thus is the international success of the festival that boasts some 300 street theatre and circus acts.

12/04/15 - The Opglabbeek animal and wildlife rescue centre has offered shelter to a number of wild animals from a Lyon zoo that had gone bankrupt. Among the animals are some very rare species, such as the snow leopard. They will stay in Opglabbeek (Limburg) for some time, before moving to a more permanent base.

In football, the season-ending play-offs have seen a turnaround in the second day of play. FC Bruges and AA Gent, the winners of the opening weekend, both lost their matches to underdogs. Bruges got beaten in Kortrijk, while Ghent suffered a last-minute defeat at Charleroi.

The Flemish government and the Netherlands are joining forces to organise a trade mission to Ghana and Senegal from 31 May to 5 June. Flanders Investment and Trade (FIT), the Flemish investment and export agency, is cooperating with its Dutch counterpart. A joint trade mission with the Flemish PM Geert Bourgeois is to follow later this year.