The week in brief: 24 October

The University of Leuven has awarded an honorary doctorate to Lorne Campbell, a Scottish historian who is an expert on 15th- and 16th-century Flemish art. Professor Campbell (pictured) lectured at the universities of Manchester and Cambridge as well as London’s Courtauld Institute, and was later curator of the National Gallery. He also co-curated the exhibition on Rogier van der Weyden that opened Museum M in Leuven in 2009.

Divers off the coast of the border area between Flanders and northern France have spotted a rare ocean sunfish, also known as the common mola (Mola mola), the Flemish Institute for the Sea reports. The mola is the heaviest bony fish in the sea and can reach up to 1.8m and more than two tonnes. One or two of the fish wash up on Flemish or Dutch beaches every year, but sightings of living examples are more rare.

The Council of State has rejected an appeal brought by a group of airlines including Brussels Airlines and parent company Lufthansa against the Brussels regional government’s zero-tolerance policy on noise complaints. In May, Brussels decided to scrap a margin of tolerance on noise complaints of nine decibels during the day and six at night. A group of seven airlines threatened to quit the airport and took the case to the Council of State. The Council ruled that the margins had been a favour and could no longer be defended given the state of noise-reduction technology.

The discovery of a dead raccoon on the E314 in Limburg is a sign the creatures are making inroads into Flanders, according to the Institute for Nature and Forestry Research. Raccoons are not native to Belgium but have been showing up – usually as roadkill – in border areas of Wallonia, Germany and Dutch Limburg. According to EU rules on exotic species, the Belgian authorities are obliged to take steps to combat the invasion.

Around 150 to 200 staff and students at the faculty of bio-engineering science at Ghent University had to vacate the building last week when an accident in a laboratory led to the release of sulphuric acid vapours, which are highly corrosive. The fire service were called and ventilated the lab. People were allowed back into the building shortly after, but the lab affected remained out of commission for the rest of the day. Nobody was injured.

One in three occupants of a vehicle on the roads during rush-hour have no pressing reason to be there and could travel at another time, according to a study by motoring organisation Touring. If they were to do so, traffic jams could be cut by about a fifth, researchers found. The problem could also be improved by allowing more flexibility in the workplace, via teleworking or less rigid hours.

The Flemish public broadcaster VRT is to begin showing a version of the main evening news with Flemish sign language from 6 December. The broadcast is a repeat of the main evening bulletin on Een and will be aired on Ketnet, YV and online. Ketnet already broadcasts the children’s news shows of Karrewiet with Flemish sign language.

Media company Vice Benelux is to launch a new TV broadcaster, Viceland, in the new year, to be shown on Channel 21 of Telenet. It will concentrate on lifestyle and cultural subjects for Flanders, with a mix of domestic and foreign productions aimed at millennials.

The government in Belgium needs to tackle alcohol consumption as hard as it did the use of tobacco, according to the Flemish expertise centre for Alcohol and other Drugs (VAD). That means rethinking the availability of alcohol including strong drinks almost 24/24 in vending machines and night shops, as well as to under-18s. VAD also calls for a massive price increase to depress consumption, as well as a ban on advertising.

Researchers from the University of Leuven and the Flemish Institute for Biotechnology have found a relationship between the sugars contained in tumours and the spread of cancers throughout the body, a team said. The research into macrophages, a white blood cell contained in the immune system, could provide a means of slowing or stopping the spread of cancer from one organ to another, and eventually to the entire body, the researchers write in a paper published in the journal Cell Metabolism.

Vilvoorde would be “honoured” to be the new home of world music festival Couleur Café, mayor Hans Bonte said. The festival is in search of a new home after failing to reach an agreement with Brussels City and the Brussels Capital region over a new location when Tour & Taxis becomes unavailable because of construction. Bonte has suggested the Drie Fonteinen park as well as two other sites. Festival organisers welcomed the suggestion but said negotiations with Brussels were continuing.

Photo: Rob Stevens/KU Leuven