Anja Hermans has been sentenced to eight months in prison, a €1,100 fine and an exclusion order to keep her from the vicinity of the Doel nuclear power plant after she breached security about a dozen times to draw attention to the fact that security at the facility was so inadequate.Full story
The fate of a controversial viaduct which would pass only metres above houses in central Antwerp was thrown into doubt last week when a report on the plan strongly supported alternatives. Critics greeted the report as a victory, and one minister in the Flemish government pushed for a quick decision and for alternative plans to be scrapped. 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
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
Interior minister Guido De Padt came under fire this week from green politicians and animal rights organisers after he took part in the traditional Carnival celebrations in Geraardsbergen, where he is a member of the municipal council. The annual “Krakelingenworp”, which is said to go back six centuries, involves town notables drinking a draught of red wine containing live fish, which are swallowed whole. Full story
The dialects of West Flanders and Limburg could be threatened with extinction, according to the latest Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger of Disappearing. The Atlas lists around 2,500 languages – 230 of which have been extinct since 1950. Languages are organised in categories ranging from “not safe” – still spoken by children but only in restricted circumstances, such as in the home – to “critically endangered”, where the youngest surviving speakers are grandparents.Full story
Leuven mayor Louis Tobback almost caused an international incident last week after he said that he wanted to rename the city’s Marshal Foch square, named after the French military leader whose orders in the First World War sent hundreds of thousands to their deaths in pointless military operations. Full story
Data disclosureBrussels hospitals have to allow the Flemish Brussels Committee (VKB) access to data on staff appointments and the language competency of employees, the Council of State has ruled. The VKB wants to ensure that hospitals in the capital conform to language requirements. At present, Flemish watchdogs claim too many staff are monolingual French speakers, which presents problems for the proper treatment of Dutch-speaking patients.Full story
The CEO of Fortis has called on all parties to come back to the negotiating table following the rejection of the agreement to sell to BNP Paribas, in a vote by shareholders in Brussels last week. The decision left the bank in the hands of the government and brought calls for the resignation of finance minister Didier Reynders.Full story
