Bruges court heard how defendant had condition called auto-brewery syndrome sometimes brought on by intestinal problems
A Belgian man has been acquitted of drunk-driving because he has auto-brewery syndrome (ABS), an extremely rare condition whereby the body produces alcohol, his lawyer has said.
Anse Ghesquiere said on Monday that in “another unfortunate coincidence” her client worked at a brewery, but three doctors who independently examined him had confirmed he had ABS.
Continue reading...Belgian PM condemns move by local mayor to shut down radical rightwing conference as ‘unconstitutional’
A radical right conference that was addressed by Nigel Farage and Suella Braverman as police arrived to close it down has resumed after a Brussels court overturned a local mayor’s attempt to stop it.
Following moves condemned as “unacceptable” and “unconstitutional” by the Belgian prime minister, Alexander De Croo, organisers of the National Conservatism conference went to the conseil d’état, Belgium’s supreme administrative court.
Continue reading...Emir Kir ordered police to close down radical rightwing conference attended by Suella Braverman and Nigel Farage
The UK prime minister has rounded on Belgian authorities for closing down a radical rightwing conference in Brussels that was addressed by British politicians including Nigel Farage and Suella Braverman.
After a day of chaos, claims and recriminations, the decision by a local Belgian mayor to stop the National Conservatives (NatCon) event was also condemned as “unacceptable” by Belgium’s prime minister, Alexander De Croo.
Continue reading...Rishi Sunak’s authority suffers blow as several Conservatives vote against bill, which clears first Commons hurdle with 383 votes to 67
At 12.30pm a transport minister will respond to an urgent question in the Commons tabled by Labour on job losses in the rail industry. That means the debate on the smoking ban will will not start until about 1.15pm.
Suella Braverman, the former home secretary, is one of the Britons speaking at the National Conservatism conference in Brussels starting today. The conference, which features hardline rightwingers from around the world committed to the NatCons’ ‘faith, flag and family’ brand of conservatism, is going ahead despite two venues refusing to host them at relatively short notice.
The current UK government doesn’t have the political will to take on the ECHR and hasn’t laid the ground work for doing so.
And so it’s no surprise that recent noises in this direction are easily dismissed as inauthentic.
Any attempt to include a plan for ECHR withdrawal in a losing Conservative election manifesto risks setting the cause back a generation.
Continue reading...Former home secretary will rub shoulders with populist right from across the globe, including Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán
Rishi Sunak is being urged to stop his former home secretary from attending a rightwing convention featuring figures who have been under investigation for extremism, in the latest sign of his waning control of his party.
Suella Braverman, who has been a central plotter against the prime minister since she left the cabinet, is set to be one of the keynote speakers at the National Conservatism (NatCon) conference in Brussels this week.
Continue reading...Act now on air quality in the Belgian capital, which is among the filthiest in Europe, say doctors and environmentalists
More than 100 doctors and environmentalists in Brussels have called on their politicians to follow London and Paris and take measures to improve the choking air pollution in the Belgian capital.
According to IS Global research, Brussels is ranked as the eighth worst of more than 800 European cities for nitrogen dioxide, which damages the lungs and is one of the main byproducts of internal combustion engines. The capital of the European Union is also ranked 308th out of 858 cities for PM2.5, or fine particulates, which can travel deep into the respiratory tract.
Continue reading...Questions surround ownership of demo tapes reportedly left by soul artist as a thank-you to his Ostend hosts
A collection of cassette tapes containing a host of unreleased Marvin Gaye songs has been found in the Belgian city of Ostend.
It has potentially lain hidden in Belgium for over 40 years, according to the BBC.
Continue reading...Directive aims to give taxi and delivery drivers such as those working for Uber and Deliveroo rights similar to those enjoyed by full employees
New laws designed to improve the rights of gig economy workers in the EU contracted to companies such as Uber have been saved from oblivion after they won the majority backing of member states.
The legislation had been blocked by a group of countries last month, when France said it could not support the text on the table and Germany abstained.
Continue reading...Letter aims to bring public anger over 30,000 deaths of Palestinians in Gaza into heart of parliaments
More than 200 MPs from 12 countries have committed themselves to trying to persuade their governments to impose a ban on arms sales to Israel, arguing they will not be complicit in “Israel’s grave violation of international law” in its assault on Gaza.
The letter, organised by Progressive International, a network of socialist MPs and activists focused on international justice, is seen as the best practical measure possible to bring public anger over the 30,000 deaths of Palestinians in Gaza into the heart of parliaments, where calls for an immediate unconditional ceasefire have so far fallen on deaf ears or been rejected by national governments.
Continue reading...Campaigners say Ineos project in Antwerp will turbocharge plastic production on a scale not seen before in Europe
The UK government is providing a €700m (£600m) guarantee for the billionaire Jim Ratcliffe to build the biggest petrochemical plant in Europe in 30 years that will turbocharge plastic production.
The huge petrochemical plant has been described as a “carbon bomb” by campaigners. Being constructed in the Belgian city of Antwerp by Ratcliffe’s company Ineos, it will bring plastic production to Europe on a scale not seen before, just as countries are trying to negotiate a binding global treaty to tackle the growing problem of plastic pollution.
Continue reading...Proposed Project One cracking plant is ‘hugely destructive’, says Client Earth
The creation of the biggest petrochemical plant in Europe in 30 years faces a new legal challenge by a group of NGOs arguing that the true impact of the development on people, nature and the climate has not been considered.
Client Earth lodged papers on Wednesday evening in court which aim to halt the building of Project One, a vast cracking plant to produce the chemicals to make plastic, which is being built in Antwerp by Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s company Ineos.
Continue reading...West should address ‘colonisation of the present’ and not focus on past, argues David Van Reybrouck
Cities in the global north that curb their carbon emissions are doing more to address colonial injustices than those who focus their efforts on taking down statues and changing street names, one of Europe’s leading historians has said.
David Van Reybrouck, the Belgian author of a bestselling history of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and a new book on Indonesia’s independence from Dutch rule, has become one of the key drivers of a nascent and often fraught debate about Europe’s colonial legacies. Those who have lauded his work include the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, the French president, Emmanuel Macron, and the former UN secretary general Kofi Annan.
Continue reading...Carved wooden figure at Venice Biennale aims to spark debate about colonial blindspots in the art world
A statue depicting the angry spirit of a Belgian officer beheaded during a 1930s uprising in the Congo will go on display at the Dutch pavilion of this year’s Venice Biennale, seeking to spark a debate about colonial blindspots in the art world – and the Belgian pavilion next door.
The carved wooden figure of colonial administrator Maximilien Balot will not be physically present at the world’s largest art event: a screen will show a livestream from a gallery in Lusanga, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), where the artefact will be on display for the six-month duration of the festival.
Continue reading...Demonstrations expected to continue in several countries as European parliament will hold exchange with stakeholders
Here are the latest images from the farmers’ protest in Antwerp.
Farmers staged a protest in Sofia today, calling for the resignation of Bulgaria’s minister for agriculture, Kiril Vatev.
Continue reading...In taking alternative direction to likes of US and UK, group has played a role in shifting perspectives on the conflict
When the UN agency for Palestinian refugees became embroiled in a scandal last month, Britain and Germany quickly froze their funding, and other countries on the continent soon followed. But instead of joining the pack, Spain and Portugal decided to go in the opposite direction. They responded with promises to up their funding.
For years, but especially in the past few months, they have been part of a grouping of countries across Europe that have consistently sought to strike a different note when it comes to conflict in the Middle East. Others include Ireland, which has called for a review of the EU’s trade ties with Israel, and Slovenia, which said it expected Israel to swiftly implement provisional measures ordered by the international court of justice in a case looking into allegations of genocide.
Continue reading...Actors say non-specific categories benefit men as industry still offers them more interesting roles
The Flemish film and television awards are facing calls to temporarily do away with gender-neutral categories amid concerns that the switch has left women routinely shut out of the top awards.
At the Ensors awards on Saturday male actors cleaned up the categories for best lead and supporting actors. It was an echo of 2022 – the first year that the awards ceremony axed gendered categories – when men also walked away with each of the four awards recognising the best actors.
Continue reading...Prime minister says blockades by protesting farmers at Dutch-Belgian border ‘have been stopped’
Belgian prime minister Alexander De Croo arrived in Place du Luxembourg just as a bronze statue that was felled in the protests yesterday was being taken away.
The statue, which weighed 200kg, was taken into a van by half a dozen men, as the clean-up in the square continues.
I think, by now, all governments have basically seen them, the Flemish government, the federal government – yesterday also the president of the [European] Commission.
We’ve shown that we’re able to come up with steps in the right direction. For some measures, we need more time to elaborate. And there’s a real willingness to go forward.
Continue reading...Demonstrations calling for help with taxes, costs and environmental rules overshadow EU leaders’ summit
Europe’s farming sector is facing a big crisis and must “profoundly” change its rules, Emmanuel Macron has said after a European Union leaders’ summit in Brussels was overshadowed by protesting farmers hurling eggs, dumping manure and lighting fires.
Speaking as hundreds of farmers from Belgium, the Netherlands and elsewhere blocked streets around the European parliament with tractors, the French president said there should be a joint EU mechanism to guarantee fair prices paid to farmers by food giants and supermarkets. He said regulations should be simplified, after weeks of farmer protests across Europe have blockaded motorways.
Continue reading...Roads around Zeebrugge could be obstructed until midnight on Wednesday, hitting commercial trade
The Belgian port of Zeebrugge was blockaded on Tuesday, causing gridlock on surrounding roads as a wave of farmer protests spread across Europe.
Authorities at the North Sea port, one of the biggest in Europe, said all access roads were blocked by 5pm (1600 GMT) on Tuesday, in a demonstration that will hit commercial trade, including imports and exports of food to and from the UK, Ireland and Scandinavia.
Continue reading...Belgium already takes a cut from Netflix and Disney and new income will support local TV production
Cute cat videos, fried chicken clips and viral dances could soon help to finance Belgian TV, with the Flanders government on the verge of passing laws to force TikTok and YouTube to share revenues with local television producers.
“Politically speaking, it is important in audiovisual and media services that there are obligations on companies to invest in local TV content,” the media minister for the Flemish government, Benjamin Dalle, told the Guardian.
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