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“The first barrier is fear”

African migrants need to be encouraged to get HIV tests, says new study

In terms of Western Europe, Belgium is one of the worst HIV-affected countries: it is one of the four that reported more than 100 new cases of HIV infections per million inhabitants in 2008 - while Finland diagnosed only 29 and Germany 34.

About 45% of these new cases were among migrants from Sub-Saharan Africa, who only account for 0.65 per cent of the Belgian population. These figures don't even reflect the actual extent of the problem: an estimated two- thirds of Sub-Saharan African migrants carry the virus without knowing it.

Tania Rabesandratana
(September 22, 2010)

Offside

Coming home

The philosopher Heraclitus might have had us in mind when he pointed out that you can’t step in the same river twice: nothing stands still, everything is in flux.

Once you've lived abroad for a while and return to where you came from, you find that your own personal river has flowed in one direction, while the one you first stepped in has gone in another.

Lots of Flemings go abroad, and some of them come home. And it's their problems that are the issue for a new service run by Flemings in the World, an organisation that provides a network for the children of Flanders, wherever they may be.

The new service is called Expert/Expats, and its aim is to make it easier to come home. Their service takes three forms:

Alan Hope
(September 15, 2010)

News in brief

One of three youths who two weeks ago saved three people from a burning house in Boom has admitted returning to steal laptop computers from the house. The three entered the house when they saw smoke and brought out two children and an elderly lady. One of the youths, however, later returned to the scene, after which a friend reported he had four laptops in his possession. Neither of the other two rescuers was implicated.

A field in Neder-Over-Heembeek used by travellers as a camp has been planted with mustard, despite an assurance given by Brussels mayor Freddie Thielemans in May that the plan would not go ahead. The idea of alderman Bertin Mampaka, thet tall mustard plants were intended to stop travellers with caravans from using the field, but it ran up against the resistance of integration groups and local scouts who use the field for recreation. Mustard, a highly invasive plant, grows quickly to a height of up to 1.5 metres.

(September 15, 2010)

Clijsters wins over New Yorkers

Flemish tennis star Kim Clijsters has been boosting her fan base in New York as much as her tennis, as she progresses into the second week of the US Open. Defending champion Clijsters (pictured), who is already one of the most popular figures in the women’s tennis circuit, crossed disciplines as she threw out the first pitch at a New York Mets game, a traditional honour for US Open champions.

On the court, meanwhile, she made short work of her old friend, Serbia's Ana Ivanovic, to earn a quarterfinal place. However, Clijsters, seeded second this year behind Denmark's Caroline Wozniacki, has failed to go beyond the quarter-finals in her last two Grand Slam tournaments.

Flanders' other Grand Slam hopeful, 15th-seeded Yanina Wickmayer fought off a match point in the third-set tiebreaker to beat Patty Schnyder in the third round. As Flanders Today went to press, Wickmayer, a semifinalist last year, was due to face 31st-seeded Kaia Kanepi in the fourth round.

 

Leo Cendrowicz
(September 8, 2010)

Offside

To beer or not to beer
© Shutterstock

If you’re asking Belgians, the question is not if they like beer, but where and in what conditions. So it appears, anyway, according to the latest Beer Barometer, issued last week by the Beer & Society Information Centre. The survey was carried out at the end of July among online visitors to websites of three local newspapers.

First the bad news: in a restaurant, nearly 67% of Belgians, almost exactly two out of three, will choose wine with their meals; only 25% will choose beer. But beer drinking is in the ascendance - food and beer pairing is the latest fad in the restaurant industry. The sommelier of the future will be expected to know his Chimay from his Chateauneuf du Pape.

Alan Hope
(September 8, 2010)

News in brief

Flemish mobility minister Hilde Crevits marked the start of the new school year last week with the launch of a working document on safety in schools. Municipalities can apply for subsidies from the Flemish government for works carried out to make the surroundings of schools safer if they lie close to a main road. The document also lays out a programme of cooperation between municipal authorities, school and police and gives some examples of best-practice in making the environment as safe as possible for parents and children arriving and leaving on foot or by bike.

Police in Dilbeek are carrying out a campaign this month to educate motorists and pedestrians on the dangers of crossing train tracks while the barriers are down or the red light is flashing. Police patrols will watch over crossings, handing out warnings to offenders. From October, anyone crossing on a red light will face a fine of up to €2,750, or a five-year suspended license in the case of drivers.

(September 8, 2010)

Offside

Sheep ahoy!

Brussels awaits the arrival in about two weeks of a flock of 450 sheep that left Berlin in June to travel here by road. The sheep's arrival will coincide with an international symposium on the contribution made by flocks of sheep to biodiversity on 14 September in Jezus-Eik. From Brussels, the sheep will walk via Luxembourg to Trier, completing their 1,200 kilometre trek, if all goes according to plan, on 17 October.

This year has been named by the UN as the International Year of Biodiversity, after governments decided in 2001 to halt the loss of biodiversity by the end of the decade - a goal which is a long way from being met. As a mark of support (and a critique of the lack of progress), shepherds from different countries assembled the flock for the Berlin-to-Brussels drive.

Alan Hope
(September 1, 2010)

News in brief

A 12-year-old Antwerp boy saved his own life and that of his father’s when he took control of their car and steered it to a safe halt after his father suffered a seizure. The boy said the car suddenly began to go faster, and his father was blinking strangely. He steered the car onto the shoulder, used the handbrake to stop it, then called emergency services.

Vittorio Pirozzi, the 58-year-old arrested last month and accused of being a capo of the Neapolitan mafia on the run from a 15-year sentence for drug trafficking, has lodged an appeal against his extradition to Italy. On being arrested, Pirozzi (who denies any mafia connections) said he preferred to sit out his sentence in a Belgian prison out of fear for his life.

(September 1, 2010)

New laws on the books

A number of new laws and regulations come into force on 1 September.

Parents will be asked to sign an agreement with their children’s school covering parent-teacher contact, time-keeping and truancy

Newcomers to the first primary class may have to take a language test if they haven’t been to pre-school and don’t speak Dutch at home

Girls born in 1998 will be eligible for a free vaccination against human papilloma virus, a precursor to cervical cancer

Secondary school students will have lessons in media awareness, teaching them how to gather and critically evaluate information

(September 1, 2010)

GM puts Opel Antwerp plant on the market

Flemish minister-president Kris Peeters has criticised a decision by General Motors (GM) to seek a buyer for the Opel Antwerp plant by the end of September.

Last week GM revealed that the factory will be closed and the ground sold off as soon as possible if no agreement about a takeover is reached by 30 September.

According to the Flemish government, six potential takeover candidates have come forward - two Chinese car manufacturers, one European parts supplier and three other companies from outside the auto sector. While no details were revealed, Peeters said three of the candidates were serious contenders.

(August 25, 2010)