A new system of parking control entered into force in Leuven this week, with the introduction of traffic wardens working for the private security company SAT. The 17 new wardens, who have the power to issue parking tickets or call tow trucks for offending vehicles, were last week given a tour by police of the most popular parking spots in the town, such as the St Peter’s church facing the town hall. The rules in some streets have also changed: where once a blue parking disc was sufficient, a system of paid parking has been introduced.

Regular light exercise on a vibrating Power Plate exercise machine helps get rid of body fat faster than strenuous exercise and dieting, according to research announced last week by physical therapist Dirk Vissers at Antwerp University. Vissers, a doctoral candidate, tested 100 overweight volunteers and found that the Power Plate helped them lose weight more quickly, as well as helping keep it off more effectively. In addition, the Power Plate regime also had more effect on organ fat in the abdomen, more common among men and post-menopausal women and a risk factor for heart disease and diabetes.

Novelist Dimitri Verhulst has won the Dutch Libris Literature Prize, the first Flemish author to do so since Hugo Claus in 1997. Verhulst took the €52,500 prize for his novel Godverdomse dagen op een godverdomse bol (Goddamn days on a goddamned planet). The book, a spoof history of the world written in what the judges described as “a fireworks display of language”, was withdrawn from open sale by some shops because of the blasphemous title, which also presented a problem to news readers on the Dutch TV channel Evangelistische Omroep (EO) when announcing the award.

Flemish green party Groen! has announced that it will take legal action against plans to build a viaduct that will run above some neighbourhoods in central Antwerp. The party claims the planning application for the so-called Lange Wapper project, which was submitted recently, was drawn up illegally. Other protesters against the scheme have argued that the official plans were heavily criticised by a study bureau brought in by the government itself to evaluate alternatives.

Cycling star Tom Boonen has been given a reprieve by his QuickStep team after being caught by a drugs test testing positive for cocaine, apparently for the third time. Boonen will have to spend a year in therapy, take urine tests every two weeks and undergo hair analyses three times a year. Meanwhile the organisers of the Tour de France said he would not be welcome at this year’s event. Drugs charges are still pending.

TV Vlaanderen, which provides digital services to 75,000 customers in Flanders, has accused Belgacom of sabotage after the station’s signal dropped out five times in 10 days. TV Vlaanderen’s signal travels to the Netherlands via ADSL by Scarlet before being sent to satellite by the Dutch telecoms company KPN. But Scarlet is owned by Belgacom, a direct competitor of TV Vlaanderen. Scarlet recently announced its intention to offer digital TV services from this summer. “And then all of a sudden we had a problem with our signal,” said Kurt Pauwels of TV Vlaanderen.