Environment minister Joke Schauvliege will put forward a proposal before the end of the year to limit the radiation produced by mobile phone masts, from the present 20 volts per metre to only three. The minister was responding to criticism from Groen! member Hermes Sanctorum that Flanders had failed to carry out checks on masts for more than a year. Sanctorum also revealed that there are 65 schools in Flanders with masts on their roofs, earning the schools between €5,000 and €10,000 a year.
The E313 Antwerp-Liège motorway will be closed on the Antwerpbound side from 27 to 29 November. Traffic will leave the motorway at the Ham exit, junction 25, and Liègebound traffic will be able to use lanes. The work involves construction of a new bridge at Ham linking the Langvoort container terminal and the Staatsbaan (N141).
A man who escaped from custody in the Brussels Justice Palace in January earlier this year has been arrested in Jette. He was preparing to carry out an armed robbery along with three accomplices. Yassin D was about to stand trial for armed robbery when he and another defendant were freed by a third man with a gun. The other defendant has since been picked up.
This year’s AKO Literature Prize has been won by Erwin Mortier for his novel Godenslaap (Sleep of the Gods). The prize, established in 1986 for Dutch-language prose, was last won by a Flemish author in 1989, when it went to Brigitte Raskin for her debut novel Het Koekoeksjong (The Cuckoo Chick). The judges described Mortier’s novel, set against the background of the First World War, as “a Homeric epic”. The prize consists of a sculpture and €50,000.
Ghent-based alt-rock band Absynthe Minded won the best song of the past decade, according to a poll by listeners to Studio Brussel. The winning song, “My Heroics, Part One”, was described by front-man Bert Ostyn as “sober, recognisable and different”
Health minister Laurette Onkelinx has called on the medical profession to take action against the team doctors of Anderlecht and Club Brugge, after it was revealed that they had inoculated players against the A/H1N1 virus. Anderlecht admits its doctors took delivery of vaccines intended for risk groups among the population – including pregnant women, the chronically ill and health and education workers. Club Brugge, meanwhile, said it had bought its vaccines fairly. Last week, the World Health Organisation denied a claim made by club chairman (and doctor) Michel D’Hooghe that he was ordered by the WHO to have his players vaccinated.
Prime minister Herman Van Rompuy is well suited to becoming leader of the European Union, according to research by the University of Antwerp. Post-doctoral researcher Tobias Van Assche drew up a profile of Van Rompuy using the Leadership Trait Analysis technique, which examines speeches and interviews for word use. He found that Van Rompuy is a collegial leader, open with information, goal-oriented and interested in furthering international relations.