The justice palace in Brussels is to be equipped with 80 new security cameras, following an incident in August when three suspects appearing in court were freed by armed men. The fugitives have since been recaptured. The cameras will come into operation in 2010, and cost an estimated €970,000.
The family of celebrity hairdresser Glenn Gemeiner (See Flanders Today, 18 August) are to bring a complaint against doctors alleging their mistakes led to Gemeiner contracting the flesh-eating disease Streptococcus pyogenes, from which he died. The disease followed liposuction treatment at a private clinic in Antwerp.
Former Flemish education minister Frank Vandenbroucke is to go back to school – lecturing on social sciences at the Catholic University of Leuven (KUL), and on social economy at the University of Antwerp. Vandenbroucke graduated from KUL, studied economics at Cambridge and then gained a doctorate at Oxford before going back into politics full-time. He was removed as minister by his own party after the June elections.
Pupils at a school in Hoogstraten in Antwerp province will this term have to get their heads around a new subject on the curriculum: happiness. Each week the hour-long class will sit down to discuss themes such as handling stress, self-image and self-esteem, and how to give and accept compliments. “Because of changing circumstances, children these days have a harder time being happy,” the school’s coordinator said. “We hope to be able to help them feel better about themselves.”
The Flemish members of the national Order of Architects have voted to split off and form a Flemish order. According to a statement issued by members of the group, the two parts of the country can no longer work together because of differences in vision regarding policy, operation and structure of the representative group. “The demand for a separate order has been there for years, but the reform became bogged down in endless discussions,” the statement said.
Unions representing post office workers were due this week to issue a strike notice in protest at the introduction of so-called neighbourhood mail-carriers. Unions object to the rate of pay for the new job – just €8.43 an hour, from which they have to buy their own bicycles. Existing mail-carriers are afraid that they will be replaced by the new staff.
Tests being carried out on live apes at the University of Leuven’ department of neurophysiology are in breach of animal welfare laws, according to the animal rights organisation Anti Animal Experiments Coalition (ADC). The group has filed a complaint against the university and its rector, Mark Waer. The apes are deprived of water and food, the activists said, before being strapped in a chair to have electrodes implanted in their brains. The group claims that alternatives to the experiments exist, but researchers say the tests are necessary.
The landmark Art Nouveau brasserie De Ultieme Hallucinatie in Sint-Joost is to close on 18 December. The bar-restaurant has been on sale for the past three years, but owner Fred Dericks has finally decided to close, exactly 28 years after he opened. The 1,600 square-metre bar and restaurant was designed by Paul Hamesse and Henri Vandevelde. It remains on the market for €3 million.
At least 5,000 young people aged between 16 and 18 are expected to take part in this year’s Zuiddag (South Day) on 16 October. The operation, which started out in Halle and has since spread across the region, asks young people to work for one day for a company or individual (suggestions are available) for a minimum salary of €30, which they then donate to the charity. This year’s efforts will support a project in Uganda.
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