Foreign affairs minister Karel De Gucht has been cleared of insider trading in the sale of Fortis shares in October last year. De Gucht had been accused of using his inside knowledge of the bank’s troubles to offload the shares before the price plummeted. However the investigation by a parliamentary commission found that he had made misleading statements about his contacts with a bank manager.

A Chiro leader whose newborn baby was found dead in the group’s equipment shed in November last year in Kessel-Lo has admitted suffocating the baby. The 23-year-old has so far maintained the baby was stillborn and hidden among camping equipment belonging to the Catholic youth movement. She has now been charged with manslaughter.

Nand Buyl, an actor described as a “monument” of Flemish theatre, died last week aged 86 in a Brussels hospital following a stroke. Buyl’s career had lasted almost eight decades, from his first appearance as a child actor to the 2006 comedy Vidange Perdue, and included theatre, film and television. He was best-known as Schipper Matthias from the 1950s TV series Schipper naast Mathilde, in which he starred beside Chris Lomme, who became his wife of 45 years.

A gambling expert from Loppem has been appointed as head of the new anti-corruption unit in UEFA, the Union of European Football Associations. Karl Dhont hit the headlines in 2005 when he revealed the existence of widespread corruption in Belgian football at the hands of a Chinese betting syndicate. He will now sit on the Union’s disciplinary board and lead a unit to investigate allegations of corruption and match-fixing.

Daily newspaper De Morgen will not after all move from its current premises in central Brussels to Kobbegem near Asse, the paper’s parent company De Persgroep has announced. At the same time, the number of jobs to be lost among editorial staff has been cut from 26 to 15.

Leuven-based brewer AB InBev may not have sole rights to the trade names Budweiser or Bud in Europe, the European Court of First Instance ruled last week. The small Czech brewer Budejovicky Budvar already has the rights to the name Budweiser in Germany, Austria, Italy and the Benelux.

The family of the folk singer Wannes Van de Velde, who died in November, have asked Antwerp city council to withdraw plans to name a street after him, culture alderman Philip Heylen said. They also declined a statue or monument in his honour, but the city will dedicate the first of its planned poetry walls to the musician, with the lyrics of his song De dichter (The Poet).

A Staffordshire bull terrier that attacked a ten-month-old baby in Willebroek last week is being examined by an animal psychologist who must decide if the dog can be allowed to live. The dog attacked baby Chenaya in the family home, severely injuring her leg. The town’s mayor ordered the evaluation by a specialist, who was due to make his verdict known this week.

Ghent politician Freya Van den Bossche is in 19th place in a poll to find the most beautiful femakle politician in the world, run by the Spanish polling website http://listas.20minutos.es. In the lead is Lucia Leon of Peru, followed by Mara Carfagna of Italy and Manuela Davila of Brazil. The youngest contender is Julia Bonk of Germany, and the oldest the former presidential candidate and First Lady of the US Hilary Clinton, aged 61.