And so Belgium ends the year without a government, having spent most of the year with one that barely functioned. As Flanders Today went to press the King was holding talks with various leading political figures, hoping to find someone who could pick up the pieces of Yves Leterme's shattered administration. Meanwhile, the country was faced with the uninspiring choice of being led again by Jean-Luc Dehaene or Guy Verhofstadt, both former prime ministers who now appear to be building new careers as saviours of the nation. Alan HopeFull story
Nestling in a deck-chair, looking
up at a huge open-air screen as
the stars come out and finding
yourself gasping or laughing out
loud with a couple of hundred
other people is just the tonic for a
balmy summer evening. Especially
if it's in an original location like the
esplanade of the natural history
museum in Brussels, where the
free PleinOPENair festival of film
and music kicks off on 30 and 31
July.Full story
