This week, the first episode in a new series of Mijn Restaurant! (My Restaurant) was broadcast on VTM, with the expectation that Flanders, as before, is going to be perched on the edge of its seat for the next few months. Full story
Opel could be turned into a self-sufficient European company – but only with €6.3 billion in state aid, the company announced last weekend. Moreover, it warned that even that option would still involve cutting costs by nearly €1 billion. Full story
Leuven University has filed a complaint with the police in an effort to stem the flow of emails from across the world reacting to a fake news story which appeared to carry the University’s imprimatur. Full story
Last week saw the opening in Manhattan of Flanders House, “a unique portal” and “gateway to Flanders”, with offices in the prestigious New York Times Building. Present at the official opening were Flemish minister-president Kris Peeters, Flemish minister for the economy Patricia Ceysens, and Scala, a Flemish girls’ choir. Geert Bourgeois was not invited. The Flanders House was originally his idea, but since he had resigned as a minister in the Flemish government, there was no Big Apple trip for him. Full story
The Flemish League Against Cancer last week launched its bi-annual campaign “Kom op tegen kanker” (Come Up Against Cancer) 20 years after it was set up. This year’s theme returns to an earlier preoccupation: research into cancer in children. Every year about 300 children in Belgium are diagnosed, with 80% finding a cure. A priority for funding this year will be clinical tests for possible treatments. Full story
Kim De Gelder, the 20-year-old arrested for the killings at the Fabeltjesland crèche in Dendermonde last month, has now been officially detained on suspicion of the murder of a 73-year-old woman in her farmhouse in Vrasene. She was killed a week before De Gelder went on the rampage in Dendermonde, stabbing to death two babies and a care worker. De Gelder denies the charge, his lawyer said. Full story
I am standing in front of a case of dolls while Els Flour explains something to me that is so obvious, I am ashamed that it never crossed my mind before: in the 19th century, girls’ dolls looked like women. It was only around the turn of the 20th century that the “baby doll” was introduced, to reinforce the idea – from an age when girls were practically infants themselves – that a girl’s job is to take care of babies. Full story
Winter is beginning to drag a bit, so many minds are turning to the summer and holiday plans. What with the global bruising of recent months, the prospect of a holiday certainly lifts the spirits. I’ve just been glancing through the paper to see what’s on offer. Let’s start close to home. What about two weeks at the Belgian coast: Knokke, zeer mooi appt – very nice apartment, 2slpk – 2 bedrooms, sounds fine, alle comf (wasmachine, droogkast) – all comforts (washing machine, tumble dryer): sounds like home away from home, no thank you.Full story
The former prime minister, Yves Leterme, is set to return to the Flemish Parliament. When minister Hilde Crevits, one of his protégées, asked him to stand on the West Flanders Christian Democrat (CD&V) list, it was an offer he could not refuse. Full story
