Security guards patrolling the premises of brewers InBev in Leuven were last week confronted by a fourinch intruder – a scorpion running loose inside one of the buildings. Guards were able to trap the beast in a plastic bottle, police said, and it was later handed over to animal experts at Planckendael animal park near Mechelen.

The Dutch-speaking division of the Brussels correctional tribunal came to a standstill last week due to a shortage of security personnel to bring accused people from prison to court. The security service, manned by civilians but aided by the Brussels police, suffers regular delays and postponed trials because of a shortage of manpower. Last Wednesday, the court itself came to a standstill in the trial of 15 Indian men accused of human trafficking, after the service was unable to deliver the accused.

More than half of all Belgians would not be prepared to move house to a new region or country on being made unemployed, according to a survey carried out by the EU. Across Europe as a whole, 48% of people would move to find a new job, but in Belgium the figure is only 43%, well below the 63% who responded positively when the survey was last carried out in 2005. In fact, only 2.3% of EU citizens live and work in another member state.

The authorities at the City General Hospital in Aalst have apologised to “all mothers” after an emergency room doctor last week called the police in to deal with a woman who was breast-feeding in the corridor while awaiting treatment. The woman, Astrid Janssens, is coordinator of an organisation that advocates free and open breastfeeding. After the incident, she said one policeman told her breastfeeding in public was illegal in Belgium – which is not the case. The hospital management said they did not support the doctor’s actions, and apologised “to all mothers who want the best for their child”.

The insurance industry in Belgium is expecting a wave of at least 30,000 damages claims following severe weather which crossed the country last week. The value of claims could run to tens of millions of euros, according to industry federation Assuralia. A similar storm in February led to 31,307 claims worth €40 million.

Police and Customs at the port of Antwerp last month seized 477 kg of cocaine in two shipments of containers loaded with bananas. Last year, seizures of cocaine at the port reached 3,632 kg – a figure which has almost been matched in the first half of this year alone. Another 2,000 kg was seized at South American ports on ships bound for Antwerp.

Two men have been arrested in connection with the theft of copper wire worth €30,000 from properties belonging to the rail authority NMBS. The two are alleged to be the leaders of a gang of Romanians responsible for the thefts along railway lines in and around Brussels. The thefts took place over a period of only two months, and caused damage and delays worth several times the value of the copper.

A race for hitchhiking students between Ghent and Barcelona was won last week by a young couple dressed in wedding clothes. Bert Schelfhout, 26, from Deerlijk and Naïma Vande Walle, 22, from Aalter met two years ago while taking part in another hitchhiking race. “We sweated a lot, but it was worth the trouble,” Schelfhout said. The couple wins 40,000 free air kilometres, and plan to visit Australia and New Zealand.

Home owners who want to add a garage or veranda to their homes will no longer need planning permission, as of December 2010, the Flemish government has decided. Contractors only need to declare “smaller works” – extensions of up to 40 square metres – on a form available at all municipalities. No formalities at all are required for freestanding structures like carports, or uncovered structures such as swimming pools and patios.