This year’s €25,000 Golden Owl literary prize went to Dutch author Cees Nooteboom for a collection of short stories entitled ‘s Nachts komen de vossen (The Foxes Come at Night). Flemish author Tom Lanoye, considered a front-runner, had to console himself with the public prize for his memoir Sprakeloos (Speechless), about his mother’s slow decline after the death of his brother in 1980. Flemish author Marita De Sterck, meanwhile, won the Young Readers prize for De Hondeneters (The Dog-Eaters).

Ultraviolet lights used by retail businesses to check for counterfeit bank notes are unreliable and essentially useless, according to the government’s anti-counterfeiting service. The talents of fakers have improved to such an extent that the lamps cannot detect a fake note. Last year 27,412 counterfeit banknotes were in circulation in Belgium.

Three men were arrested last week in Turnhout and charged with a total of 52 burglaries after they were tracked down on the basis of ear prints left behind when they apparently listened at doors to ensure no-one was home. Police said ear prints are as unique as fingerprints.

The website of the municipality of Kampenhout in Flemish Brabant was down last week – after the council failed to pay the web-host bill of €327.91 for the year. The web host company said they had sent several reminders. Mayor Jean Meeus complained the payment was one day late as a result of the Easter holiday. The site (www. kampenhout.be) was back up by the end of the week.

Government and the private sector last week signed an agreement to set up a centre of excellence in research and training in the fight against cyber-crime, to be based in Kortrijk. Justice minister (and Kortrijk mayor) Stefaan De Clerck was joined by interior minister Annemie Turtelboom, as well as representatives from Microsoft, Cisco, Atos Origin and CSC Belgium, together with Febelfin, the representative organisation for the financial industry. The centre is expected to become operational by the end of the year.

One in three saunas are filming you in the changing rooms, according to the Belgian Sauna Association. Although cameras are installed for security reasons and to prevent theft, they are in breach of the rules on privacy, said the Privacy Commission. Cameras in enclosed spaces are governed by strict rules, and separate spaces without surveillance must be provided where clients can undress.

The driver of one of the two trains involved in the Buizingen crash in February is back at work and awaiting medical authorisation to chauffeur trains again. Robin Vanden Bemden, 31, was injured in the crash. The other driver, 35-yearold Johan De Keyser, was one of 18 people killed.

Students at the Catholic University of Leuven would give up their free annual bus pass if the money could be spent instead on better cycle racks and rental bikes, according to student representatives. Most students only use the pass to travel from Fochplein to the station – barely one kilometre. Providing the student passes costs €650,000 a year, of which €320,000 is provided by the city council.

Pharmacists can now offer an SMS reminder service that sends patients a text message to remind them to take their medication. The service follows studies that show 40% to 70% of patients do not always take their medication on time.
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