Unpleasant stories have been doing the rounds for some time about director Philip Fontaine of Flanders House in New York. LDD chairman Jean-Marie Dedecker heard them too during his visit to New York. Fontaine is not only rumoured to pocket a generous salary of 250,000 dollars per year, but through his company with his partner Anastasia Bizarri, Italian Days, he is also said to send hefty invoices to Flanders House. Italian Days organises events in New York as well as holidays and accommodation in Italy. Within a month of the opening party, Italian Days already invoiced Flanders House for 13.475 Euros, while a whole range of Belgian companies had supplied free food, drinks and other sponsoring for the event. In total, Italian Days is believed to have rendered services costing nearly 30,000 dollars of Flemish tax payers' money. Towards his colleagues, Fontaine is far less generous. The four Flemish staff members of Flanders House Incorporated are alleged to not even have health insurance or industrial accident insurance. According to De Standaard, questions can also be raised concerning further Flemish expenditure in New York. The Tourist Office for Flanders operates from the offices of Flanders House, for which it pays 500.000 Euros per year, while still paying for its other office, which it is sharing with its Walloon sister organisation. Dedecker is demanding an explanation about the activities of Flanders House and his party will question the minister-president in Flemish Parliament on this issue. Flanders House has its offices on the 44th floor of the New York Times Building and its doors were officially opened in February in the presence of Flemish minister-president, Kris Peeters (CD&V). In addition to the non-profit organisation Flanders House, which focuses on cultural, scientific and academic themes, and the Tourist Office, Flanders Investment & Trade also has an office there.

A fire broke out Sunday morning in the Carolus Borromeus Church of Antwerp, a Jesuit church and a baroque gem that is one of the most valuable churches in the city. Smoke was first noticed around 07.00 and the fire brigade was on the scene soon, bringing the fire under control by 08.30. Immediately after the fire was extinguished, rescue operations started to save the valuable church interior. The disaster plan, an action plan for the five monumental churches in Antwerp, worked perfectly. The sacristy of the church was converted into a crisis centre and the most precious artworks, like the eighteenth century designs by the architect Jan Pieter Baurscheit were expertly evacuated. Damage to works of art remained minimal, aside from a statue of the Virgin Mary. Because there was a risk that structures could collapse once the fire had been extinguished, the Civil Protection Services propped up the gallery at around 11.00, where the fire had been the fiercest. This helped to safeguard some of the more vulnerable pieces of the church furniture, such as the pulpit and the confession boxes. The cause of the fire has not yet been determined. It is possible that the wooden gallery floors were overheated by spotlights, which were used the previous night to record a public broadcast of a concert by the renaissance company The Sixteen. The Carolus Borromeus Church, which is regarded as a classic example of baroque architecture, is sometimes referred to as the 'Rubens Church'. Rubens is said to have played a part in the design of the facade and the tower, and his painter's studio painted no less than 39 ceiling paintings. Unfortunately these paintings were destroyed in the fire of 1718. The architect Baurscheit was responsible for the restoration at the time.

More than 10,000 dancers turned up on the 'little beach' in Ostend on Saturday at noon to appear in the climate video `The Big Ask Again' by director Nic Balthazar. Balthazar wants to use the video to send a wake-up call to Belgian and European politicians by pointing out to them that the clock has struck if we want to get the climate change under control. The fifteenth UN Climate Summit will take place in Copenhagen at the end of December, and Balthazar has called for a binding international agreement to be reached to cut greenhouse gas emissions and ensure that the agreement is also fair and socially equitable. Last year, Balthazar shot his first video on the same beach, The Big Ask 1, which was translated into ten languages and made international headlines. The Big Ask Again is the sequel. This time Balthazar opted for dancing. Choreographer Koen Augustijnen of Les Ballets C de la B devised the choreography in Bollywood style. From a stage, together with local television celebrity Francesca Van Thielen, he gave directions for the line-up in parallel lines and for the learning of the dancing steps. The actual recording lasted some three hours and footage was shot in 2D and 3D.

A mere 1,500 people attended the 82nd Yser Pilgrimage in Diksmuide in the shadow of the IJzer Tower. `Flanders is for everyone' was the slogan, but the attendance was particularly disappointing, which must have been a sore point for the organising Yser Pilgrimage committee, says De Standaard. All the more because the Flemish manifestation 'The Ijzer Wake', an event organised by competing radical rightwingers, counted 5,000 participants. Nevertheless, chairman Baeten sounded more militant than ever. 'The Flemish government is the only legitimate government for us. Abolish the federal elections. True federal elections don't really exist in this country in any case, they should therefore be abolished', the call echoed across the meadow. The federal government was even labelled as a danger to the state because the Flemish parties constitute a minority in it. Baeten says it is obvious that state reform is required. The call by the other Flemish nationalist Frans Crols that Flanders should let go of Brussels was not well received by the Ijzer Pilgrimage Committee. 'We won't let go of Brussels, not yesterday, not today and not tomorrow,' a resolute Baeten emphasized. Prominent attendees included Flemish minister-president Kris Peeters (CD&V), chairman of the N-VA Bart De Wever and N-VA ministers Geert Bourgeois and Philippe Muyters. Also present were SPA leader Bert Anciaux and LDD stalwart Boudewijn Bouckaert. Peeters did not repeat the radical calls, choosing instead to infer from Baeten's speech that the Flemish government has gained importance.

Carrot mobs are popular in the USA, particularly amongst environmentally-conscious shoppers. The organisers of these events rally a group of people, mainly via social networking sites like Facebook, then approach a number of shopkeepers. If they promise to invest a part of their daily turnover in energy-saving measures, then carrot mob supporters will shop at their store on a particular day. Niel Staes was the first to organise such a carrot mob in Flanders. In Antwerp he approached nearly fifty shopkeepers. Out of the fifty, eight were interested. These were invited to bid against one another and in the end the Tugra Market in the Brederodestreet was prepared to invest 50 percent of its turnover in energy-saving measures. As a result, more than 565 shoppers visited the Tugra Market on Saturday, good for a turnover of 4,000 euro, double that of a normal Saturday. Together with the shoppers, the shopkeeper was also visited by an energy expert, who determined where the shopkeeper should ideally invest his 2,000 euro. Such a pledge by the shopkeeper is not without obligations, as everything is stipulated accurately in a contract beforehand. Organiser Staes hopes that carrot-mobbing will now also spread to the rest of Flanders.

According to German periodical Der Spiegel, the presence of Russian partners in the consortium of the Canadian company Magna is the primary reason why GM executives are not accepting their takeover bid for Opel. GM says the takeover would be a lot easier to swallow if the Canadian supplier of car parts cut its ties with the Russian investors GAZ and Sberbank. The fact that the US holds a 60 percent share in GM is a particularly sensitive issue. But it is believed that German Chancellor Angela Merkel promised Russian president Medvedev in mid-July in Munich that she would support the Magna bid, says Der Spiegel. The German government immediately denied the report. According to a German government spokesperson, there are no indications whatsoever that the involvement of Russian partners plays a role in the position of GM or the US. Both Merkel and her biggest opponent, Frank-Walter Steinmeier of the SPD, have turned the rescue of Opel into a top priority in the run-up to the elections. In the meantime, the trade union IG Metall demands that a decision be taken before the start of the important IAA car show in Frankfurt in mid-September. At this show, the new Opel Astra will be launched, and if no solution has been found by then, the success of the new Astra will be in jeopardy, says IG Metall.

A spectacular accident occurred yesterday during the golden wedding anniversary of the Belgian royal couple at the royal grounds in Laken. A carriage which was taking the guests on a tour around the royal gardens collided with another carriage after a horse had bolted. The animal presumably panicked after being stung by a wasp. The accident occurred around 15.15 in the royal gardens, in the presence of dozens of guests, journalists and photographers. Four people were injured, two in the approaching carriage and two in the stationary carriage. The injured passengers were attended to in two hospitals in Brussels and it turned out that they only sustained some minor abrasions and bruises. One passenger suffered from pneumothorax. After the accident and the consternation, the festivities continued normally.

The judicial authorities are offering Belgian rider Tom Boonen an out of court settlement regarding his recent cocaine use.

1 in 3 items reduced for quick sale because of the expiration date is often no longer edible.

29/08 - The music festival organised by VRT radio's culture station Klara has got under way with a concert by the Russian-Greek pianist Katia Skanavi.

Students bragged about exam fraud on the popular social networking site.

The Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix takes place this weekend. Winning this legendary Grand Prix is a dream of many a Formula 1 driver.

Over a half a million people visited the event intended to recreate the atmosphere of the seaside.

27/08/09 - Archaeologists have uncovered German artillery positions dating from 1915 and the Great War. The find is exceptional because two years later the entire area was razed to the ground during the Battle of Passchendaele.

25/08/09 - Tuesday is the Day of the Flemish Shrimp. The Flemish Government is determined to support the shrimp industry. It sees it as a life buoy for the ailing Flemish fishing industry.

The Brussels appeals court has decided to suspend Francine De Tandt; she is under investigation for allegations of corruption.

Over a thousand asylum seekers are now being put up in hotels in Brussels.

More children got separated from their parents or supervisors at the Belgian coast than last year.

En juin, la Région flamande comptait 143.482 chômeurs temporaires, soit plus du double par rapport à juin 2008, ou par rapport à la Wallonie. La majorité des travailleurs touchés sont des hommes (77,7%). Dans toute la Belgique, on recensait 221.885 chômeurs temporaires en juin - une augmentation de 92% par rapport à juin 2008. Le pic absolu a été atteint en février et mars, avec respectivement 280.000 et 310.000 personnes concernées. Le chômage temporaire inclut non seulement le chômage économique, mais aussi le chômage pour mauvaises conditions climatiques, pannes techniques, force majeure ou grèves. Le contrat de travail n'est suspendu que temporairement, mais les travailleurs restent liés à leur entreprise, de sorte qu'ils peuvent se remettre rapidement au travail en cas de reprise économique. Selon Ann Van Laer, secrétaire nationale du syndicat chrétien ACV, l'important chômage économique est la meilleure preuve que la crise économique ne faiblit pas. Les entreprises font de plus en plus souvent appel au système de chômage temporaire pour compenser les baisses radicales de production. Certaines entreprises sont restées à l'arrêt des semaines durant et ont prié tous leurs ouvriers de rester chez eux pendant ce temps-là. Si la Flandre a massivement recours à cette solution, cela s'explique par le fait que le secteur industriel y est nettement mieux implanté que dans le reste du pays. La région est donc nettement plus vulnérable aux effets de la crise. En outre, ces chiffres n'incluent pas les suspensions temporaires des employés, puisque c'est seulement peu avant l'été que le chômage temporaire pour employés a été adopté au titre de mesure anticrise.

Les grandes entreprises belges cotées en bourse ont enregistré 5,8 milliards d'euros de bénéfice en moins que l'année dernière. Cela représente une division par deux (-56%). Une seule entreprise est dans le rouge : la KBC, qui a perdu 3,3 milliards d'euros en six mois, principalement à cause des amortissements imprévus qu'elle a dû faire sur un portefeuille de crédits toxiques. Les chiffres présentent en outre le bénéfice net, sans donner beaucoup de détails sur les performances réelles de l'entreprise. La vente d'une partie d'une société, les coûts d'une restructuration ou des impôts moins élevés influencent fortement le bénéfice net. En outre, quelques entreprises du Bel20 ont radicalement évolué : AB InBev a énormément grossi en absorbant l'Américain Anheuser-Bush, tandis que Fortis rapetissait en vendant Fortis Bank Belgium et les activités néerlandaises. En dépit du manque à gagner des entreprises reprises dans le Bel20, les chiffres ne sont pas dramatiques, estiment De Tijd et De Standaard, et certainement meilleurs que ce que la plupart des observateurs auraient prédit voici six mois. Le phénomène s'explique par le fait que les entreprises ont réduit leurs coûts dès le début de la crise, explique Carsten Brzeski, économiste chez ING Belgique. Durant le second trimestre, la demande s'est en outre stabilisée et la demande asiatique a repris. Le lent rétablissement de l'économie mondiale profitera avant tout aux entreprises de début de cycle, comme la métallurgie et le traitement des matières premières (Nyrstar, Umicore, Bekaert), poursuit Brzeski. Toutefois, l'augmentation des chiffres du chômage continuera à faire baisser la consommation des ménages, et des entreprises comme AB InBev (groupe brassicole), ou Delhaize et Colruyt (grande distribution) en souffriront.