Belgium's King Albert II issued a rare press release last week to lament the breach of protocol in members of political parties revealing the content of private discussions with the king, details of which appear in a new book on the political crisis. The book reports that the king angrily refused to consider new elections. The press release also states that parts of the book are "manifestly untrue".

Els Clottemans, sentenced to 30 years in prison last year for killing a woman by tampering with her parachute, has had her appeal rejected by the Cassation Court and is now considering taking her case to the European Court of Human Rights. The Cassation Court ruled that Clottemans lodged her appeal against conviction too late, although her lawyer claims the prison authorities are at fault. The case at the European Court will hinge on the fact that she was interviewed by police as a suspect without the presence of legal counsel.

Limburg province has started "divorce courses" to help married couples break up in a manner that will cause the least harm to their children. The initiative follows the suicide last month of a 12-year-old boy who left a note saying he could no longer stand his divorced parents' constant battles.

The rail authority NMBS has cut the time it will store lost property from six months to 50 days, after which it will be given away to the non-profit Spullenhulp, which sells goods to raise money for the disadvantaged. Last year 39,385 objects were found in trains and stations, of which only 14,505 were reclaimed by their owners. The main items of lost property were backpacks, luggage, clothing, mobile phones and wallets.

A man accused of stealing two bags of muffins from the garbage of a supermarket in Rupelmonde (Flanders Today, 13 April) has been given a six-month suspended sentence. Steven De Geynst describes himself as a dumpster diver, who salvages food thrown away by shops because it has reached its sell-by date, despite being fit for consumption. The court ruled that goods can still be stolen even if their owner has thrown them away. De Geynst is considering an appeal.

Archaeologists digging in Oekene, near Roeselare, West Flanders, have uncovered the remains of a mammoth, a wild horse and a wisent, or European bison. The find, which also included tool fragments, dates back at least 10,000 years, the oldest find the province has ever seen. The site was discovered in fact in 2009, but was kept quiet until now so as not to alert treasure hunters. The artefacts will be put on show in Galerie Blomme in Roeselare next month.

Three freight containers from Japan that caused an alert in Zeebrugge harbour last week when they were found to be emitting nuclear radiation present no danger to workers or to the public, the Federal Agency for Nuclear Control has announced. Routine checking revealed an abnormal level of caesium-137 in one container and two others will low levels of the radiation. All three have now been decontaminated.

Wheelchair users and other disabled people will now be able to plan a trip to the centre of Brussels according to the accessibility of particular streets, with the publication last week of a new city map that grades each street according to the difficulty involved. The map, in book form, is published by Use-It and the disabled persons forum VFG and includes museums, cultural attractions, leisure spots and information on accessible toilet facilities. www.rolstoelplanbrussel.be