The Flemish League against Cancer (VLK) has criticised the government's smoking policy, pointing out that the number of smokers fell between 2004 and 2008 by only 3% and still stands at more than one in four adults. The government has also not done enough to enforce the smoking ban in public places, most notably in cafes, the league argues.

The large quantities of road salt used during the end-of-year cold weather is contaminating groundwater and putting birds at risk, according to the bird protection group Vogelbescherming Vlaanderen. Householders have been asked to put out a bowl of fresh drinking water in gardens and balconies to help the birds.

Turkish and Arab schoolchildren should be allowed to celebrate their own community festivals with days off school, according to Flemish education minister Pascal Smet. The two groups of Muslims do not always mark the main holidays on the same day, and Turkish representatives have claimed that the Muslim Executive, which sets the official holidays, is too heavily weighted towards the Arab community.

The contemporary arts centre Wiels in Brussels has been granted a €1.5 million credit guarantee by the Brussels Region to allow it to raise money to pay bills and rent. The centre is still waiting for a renovation subsidy of €2.7 million and has run into financial difficulties without the grant.

The statue of Mannekin Pis in Brussels was "censored" last week by protesters in response to a new tough media law introduced in Hungary, which now holds the presidency of the European Council. To mark the hand-over from Belgium, Mannekin Pis was dressed in the uniform of a Hungarian Hussar.

The chihuahua was the most popular breed of dog in Belgium in 2010, with 12,539 bought, according to the government's identification and registration office. The Jack Russell came second at 8,685.

Antwerp harbour needs more dredging work to improve the passage through the Scheldt estuary for larger cargo ships, according to port director-general Eddy Bruyninckx. Dredging at 12 crucial spots was completed only two weeks ago, after a period of considerable tension between the Dutch and Flemish governments over the issue.

The aviation hall of the Royal Army Museum in Brussels was closed and more than 200 visitors evacuated after the thawing of heavy snow threatened to bring down part of the roof late last month. The museum moved several aeroplanes, and the building reopened the following week.

The law obliging the child of a married couple to take the father's surname (Article 335 of the civil code) is the most contemptible statute on the Belgian books, according to a poll of readers of the professional magazine De Juristenkrant. "A more clear example of unequal treatment of men and women would be hard to find," said a leading jurist.

Last year saw a record number of 53 snow days, four more than the previous record set in 1906. December was particularly white, with 21 days compared to an average of 4.5.

The church in Lutselus, part of the municipality of Diepenbeek, Limburg province, will be rebuilt with insurance money. The entire building had to be demolished after the roof collapsed at the end of December. The new church complex will also include a community centre, but the location has yet to be decided. The 72-year-old church was the cause of a major traffic bottleneck in the town, which can be tackled if the church is rebuilt in another location.

Scientists at the European Institute for Public Health and Consumer Protection in Ispra, Italy, have developed a technique to verify the authenticity of Trappist beers and protect against counterfeits. Belgium produces six of Europe's seven recognised Trappist beers, three of them in Flanders (Westmalle, Achel and Westvleteren).

Prison officers protested at Christmas gifts given to prisoners in Hasselt. The prisoners received five weeks' free television and €10 each in phone credits. A prison officer said the action, costing more than €17,000, was a scandal given the state of Belgium's prisons.

A man who found a disused safe containing €300,000 in cash in a former Dexia bank in Ghent has complained at the €10,000 reward offered by the bank. Speaking via a lawyer, builder Kaya Ferhat said a 10% reward would have been more appropriate, given that a less honest finder might have kept the lot.

The centre of Leuven will become a 30km/h zone from the end of January, the city announced. The restrictions will apply to all streets within the Ring and could extend to outer areas later.

Ghent university researcher Freija Descamps saw in the New Year at the South Pole, as the only Flemish member of a team working on the IceCube telescope, the world's largest. On her Cold Life blog, she described the festivities as the team joined German and Austrian skiers racing to the Pole. "It was a rather surreal party, with people standing between tents and trucks. In big polar coats and with warm hats, neck-gaiters, gloves and happy-new-year tiaras! :) It was nice to meet the adventurous skiers and their entourage." http://coldlife.blog.foreach.com