Week in brief: 8 August

The Autoworld museum in Brussels’ Jubelpark, is marking its 30th anniversary with the opening of a new Media Room, which will recount the history of the museum and the building in which it is housed. The privately owned museum was originally created to show part of the car collection of businessman Ghislain Mahy. The building, constructed to mark the 50th anniversary of the Belgian State, has over the years been home to the German army, a depot for racing pigeons and a storage place for sports equipment.

The Belgian state took in nearly €16.7 million in 2015 in unclaimed estates from 102 people who had died without a will or an heir. The state can claim an estate if there are no heirs or if the heirs decline the bequest. Since 2007, the total take in comes to €80 million, from which the state paid €36 million to the regions in death duties.

Police discovered 13 migrants hiding in the port of Zeebrugge last week in an attempt to board a truck heading for the UK, the prosecutor’s office in Bruges said. This brings the number of refugees found at the port this month alone to 20.

Telemarketing companies are still ignoring Do Not Call lists, which register telephone numbers of members of the public who do not want to be cold-called, according to federal economy ministry. A survey revealed that 40% of 70 companies investigated were caught calling numbers on the Do Not Call list. One of the offending companies risks being banned, while 22 others have been fined.

Seven people were injured when two trams collided at De Wand station in Laken last Thursday, MIVB said. A tram number 7 ran into the back of a tram number 3 travelling in the same direction. Both drivers were among the injured.

This year’s New Year dip in the sea off Ostend will take place on 1 January for the first time, organisers have announced. Usually the event takes place on the first Saturday of the new year, but New Year’s Day 2017 falls on a Sunday, which the organisation wants to take advantage of. This will be the first time that the event, which attracts about 5,000 brave souls, falls on the day itself since the tradition was started in 1987.

NSZ and Unizo, which both represent the self-employed, have called for changes to the system to address the growing number of self-employed people suffering long-term illness. The numbers of self-employed claiming benefits for long-term sickness rose from 3,980 in 2011 to 5,035 last year. Benefits €34 to €45 a day – only kick in after 30 days of illness. NSZ is calling for an end to the delay, while Unizo argues for a social security fund for the self-employed.

A police patrol spotted in Elisabethpark in Koekelberg on National Day on 21 July were not playing Pokemon Go! as reported, the Brussels-West police zone has concluded after an internal enquiry. The officers were investigating a large gathering of people in the park who themselves were there to play the game, a spokesperson said.

Unesco has recognised the Albert Marinus Centre in Sint-Lambrechts-Woluwe in Brussels as an official documentation centre for heritage protection. The centre, named after a distinguished Belgian sociologist and folk culture expert, is used by schools, researchers and organisations involved with heritage and folk culture.

The railways division of the federal police is looking for the owners of some 300 personal belongings recovered from the scene of the suicide bombing at Maalbeek metro station in Brussels on 22 March. The items include jewellery, clothing and a guitar. Anyone who was present on the day, or the relatives of victims, can contact the division on 02 528 14 44 or at [email protected].

The federal food safety agency is advising owners of rabbits to have them vaccinated if they are for sale or taking part in competitions. The advice is a reaction to the sharp increase in cases of a new form of Rabbit Haemorrhagic Disease reported in Flanders in recent weeks. The virus is not harmful to humans but can be fatal to rabbits and hares, causing internal bleeding and hepatitis.

Together with other European organisations, Hasselt University’s Institute for Mobility (Imob) has developed Ruba – short for Road User Behaviour Analysis. The tool can automatically detect specific traffic situations, such as the colour of a light and whether pedestrians are present. The combination of fields can detect dangerous situations such as if a pedestrian crosses a street against the light when a car is approaching. Imob will deploy Ruba in urban areas.

Photo courtesy: Autoworld Brussels/Facebook