Antwerp-based designer Veronique Branquinho is to close down her label James after ten years. The designer blamed falling orders, as well as a number of customers who defaulted on payment. Full story
Antwerp has been named as the European Youth Capital for 2011, following on from Rotterdam this year and Turin in 2010. Nearly 30% of the Antwerp population is under 25, with that proportion rising by the year. "Young people have to be given the chance to show what they can achieve," said council youth policy adviser Jeff Van Poppel. Antwerp has led the way in youth participation, he said, seeking young people's advice in town planning, for instance, as well as the establishment of the first youth press agency Stamp Media. Full story
Voters are just as often won over by personalities as they are by party programmes. As a result, nearly every well-known politician in the land is taking part in the upcoming regional and European elections, with the exception of prime minister Herman Van Rompuy. So who to choose?Full story
Jorgen Stassijns, the Artsen Zonder Grenzen (AzG) doctor who was held by armed bandits in Somalia for ten days in April has paid tribute to local communities who helped ensure he and his fellow hostage, a Dutch male nurse, were freed unharmed. Full story
A new species of coffee plant found in Cameroon by
a French expedition and described by Dr Piet Stoffelen of the National Botanic Gardens
of Belgium in Meise has been voted one of the 10 most important new species of
2009 by the International Institute for Species Exploration (IISE) in Arizona. The beans
produced by Coffea charrieriana are
naturally caffeine free.
Full story
Public broadcaster één last week announced its 2008-2009 figures, calling it "the best season we have ever had". A loss of €6 million was no reason for long faces: that's €1 million less of a deficit than last year, and €7 million less than was earlier forecast. Merchandising and licensing, as well as income from online services and SMS voting, added up to €67.9 million, more - for the first time - than from advertising at €63.7 million. Full story
The Flemish Nature and Woodland Agency has put out a call to churches, looking for attics that can be made bat-friendly to tackle an accommodation problem. Bats in Flanders are suffering from a general shortage of habitat, as formerly draughty attics are insulated with more and more efficiency.Full story
Belgium will send 500 of its prison inmates to Tilburg in the Netherlands, under an agreement reached between the two governments last week. Full story
On 27 May, as Flanders Today is published, the annual Ark Prize of the Free Word will be awarded in Antwerp to Luc Huyse, a sociologist and emeritus professor at the Catholic University of Leuven. The prize, which comes with no big cash handout, will be handed over by last year’s winner, archaeologist and columnist David Van Reybrouck. Full story
Aspirant police officers may in future be diabetic,
short-sighted or literally flat-footed, after changes to the selection criteria
introduced last week by the justice ministry. They may also be slightly tubbier
than before, with the acceptable body mass index (BMI) raised to 26 for women
and 30 for men. A BMI of 30 is considered the borderline for obesity, while
anything above 25 is considered overweight. Full story
_itok-PPsVpeGQ.JPG "Coffea charrieriana")
