Belgium is the latest country to go into lockdown, with citizens asked to stay at home and limit contact to their closest family. From noon on Wednesday, all non-essential shops and open-air markets closed and people were expected to work at home
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‘Do not let this fire burn’: WHO warns Europe over coronavirus
Europe now centre of pandemic, says WHO, as Spain prepares for state of emergency
The World Health Organization has stepped up its calls for intensified action to fight the coronavirus pandemic, imploring countries “not to let this fire burn”, as Spain said it would declare a 15-day state of emergency from Saturday.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO director general, said Europe – where the virus is present in all 27 EU states and has infected 25,000 people – had become the centre of the epidemic, with more reported cases and deaths than the rest of the world combined apart from China.
Continue reading...Belgian woman dies after taking sip of MDMA-laced wine
Alert issued after woman opens bottle believed to have been used to transport drug
Belgian prosecutors have issued an alert over a woman who died after taking a sip of wine from a bottle suspected of being used to transport the drug MDMA.
The 41-year-old collapsed shortly after opening the French red to enjoy with a colleague after work. She took a sip from a glass, which left an unpleasant taste, and the intake was enough to give her a fatal dose of MDMA, the active ingredient in ecstasy pills.
Continue reading...‘Devil’s couple’ extradited to Belgium 23 years after murder of Briton
Hilde Van Acker and Jean-Claude Lacote are facing a life sentence over shooting businessman Marcus Mitchell
Two of Europe’s most wanted criminals, branded the “Devil’s couple” for their murder of a British businessman, have been extradited to Belgium after 23 years on the run.
Hilde Van Acker, 56, and Jean-Claude Lacote, 53, are facing a life sentence for the shooting of Marcus Mitchell, a businessman whom the couple conned out of £500,000.
Continue reading...UK Brexit negotiator accused of treating Britain and EU as ‘two different planets’
Verhofstadt says it would be a ‘hell of a job’ to achieve success using David Frost’s approach
Boris Johnson’s chief Brexit negotiator has been accused of treating the EU and the UK as if they are “living on two different planets” after vowing to break all regulatory ties with Brussels.
Guy Verhofstadt, the former Belgian prime minister who has led the European parliament’s approach to Brexit, said it would be a “hell of a job” to secure a successful outcome from the negotiation using the British approach.
Continue reading...‘Fighting like ferrets in a bag’ as EU tries to plug Brexit cash hole
UK’s withdrawal has left £62bn hole in bloc’s purse for the next seven years
Presidents, prime ministers and chancellors across Europe will pack their bags later this week in preparation for a long weekend in Brussels. They won’t, however, be taking in the baroque majesty of the Grand Place or savouring the local culinary treats. Instead, they will be preparing for that most infamous of events, a “four shirter”, to use the clothes-packing gauge adopted by male diplomats to measure the length and horror of EU leaders’ summits in the Belgian capital. The thorny subject this time around? Money. And the problem? Britain.
The UK’s withdrawal from the European Union has left a huge €75bn (£62bn) hole in the bloc’s budget for the next seven years, 2021 to 2027. “And now we are fighting like ferrets in a sack,” said one EU diplomat with a sigh.
Continue reading...Belgium’s King Albert II admits he fathered child in 1960s affair
King acknowledges result of court-ordered DNA test linking him to Delphine Boël
King Albert II, who abdicated from the Belgian throne in mysterious circumstances in 2013, has acknowledged having fathered a child during an extramarital affair in the 1960s, following the result of a court-ordered DNA test.
Delphine Boël has been fighting in the courts for six years to prove that Albert, 85, is her biological father. She could now be entitled to one-eighth of Albert’s estate.
Continue reading...Lamb of (oh my) God: disbelief at ‘alarmingly humanoid’ restoration of Ghent altarpiece
Painstaking operation to return Adoration of the Lamb to its former glory has left many speechless
A restoration of one of the world’s most famous paintings has been described as “a shock for everybody” after it revealed a depiction of a sheep with extremely human-like eyes.
The Ghent Altarpiece, completed by Hubert and Jan van Eyck in 1432, is a 15th-century masterpiece in St Bavo’s Cathedral in Belgium, widely considered to be the first major artwork to use oil paint.
Continue reading...‘The streets are more alive’: Ghent readers on a car-free city centre
We asked locals in the Belgian city to tell us how things have changed since the shake-up
The city has become a pedestrians and cyclists’ joy, especially for people like me who live in the city centre and have no car. As I type, they are busy turning our street into a low-traffic, communal woonerf or ‘living street’. It has become easier and safer to navigate the town on foot or by bike. Having recently returned from the Middle East the changes are even more striking, especially when it comes to my son. We were not ready for him to cycle before but teaching him to cycle on the roads here has been a fun and relatively stress-free experience. The changes have made an enormous difference to people’s quality of life. Khaled Diab, journalist and writer
Continue reading...How a Belgian port city inspired Birmingham’s car-free ambitions
Ghent’s transformation produced shorter journeys, cleaner air and a cycling explosion
Birmingham – once, proudly, the UK’s “motorway city” – has announced plans to entice people out of cars and on to bikes and buses. If officials get their way, the city will be split into zones, and, rather than driving direct, motorists will have to use the ring road for all zone-to-zone journeys.
Those travelling by foot and bicycle in the new Brum won’t be inconvenienced: their journeys will be simple and – with fewer cars – safer. With cars out of the way, bus journeys will become swifter and more reliable.
Continue reading...Belgian doctors go on trial for murder for helping woman end life
Medics accused of poisoning Tine Nys, 38, in country’s first euthanasia criminal case
Three Belgian doctors go on trial for murder on Tuesday for helping a woman end her life in the country’s first criminal case concerning euthanasia.
The doctors, whose names have not been made public, are accused of unlawfully poisoning 38-year-old Tine Nys on 27 April 2010. Prosecutors say Nys did not fulfil the conditions under Belgian law to be euthanised.
Continue reading...EU headquarters built by undocumented migrants, workers claim
‘Space Egg’ in Brussels under fire after investigation into subcontractors’ practices
The EU is facing embarrassment over claims that its new Europa headquarters, also known as the Space Egg building, was built with the help of undocumented migrant workers who at times went without pay.
The European council building in Brussels, which contains an ovoid glass structure, was opened in 2016 at a cost of £300m.
Continue reading...EU looks at extending Brexit transition period beyond 2020
Move is being considered by EU officials in face of Johnson not seeking extension beyond 11 months
EU leaders would take the initiative and request an extension to the transition period, keeping the UK under Brussels regulations beyond 2020, under a plan mooted for getting around Boris Johnson’s stated refusal to seek a delay.
The move is being considered by EU officials as a way out of the problem posed by the short time available to negotiate a new relationship and the prime minister’s insistence that he will not seek an extension beyond 11 months.
Continue reading...Unesco removes ‘racist’ Belgian carnival from heritage list
Carnival of Aalst included parade float caricaturing Orthodox Jews
Unesco has removed an annual carnival in the Belgian city of Aalst from its heritage list over persistent charges of antisemitism.
In an unprecedented move, Unesco’s intergovernmental committee for the safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage said it was withdrawing the carnival “over recurring repetition of racist and antisemitic representations” at the event.
Continue reading...EU leaders meet to try to agree on carbon neutrality by 2050
Greenpeace activists unfurl climate emergency banner on Brussels venue before event
European leaders meeting at a summit in Brussels will make a new attempt to set the European Union on course for carbon neutrality by 2050, in a test of the bloc’s credibility on the climate emergency.
Hours before EU leaders were due to arrive on Thursday, Greenpeace activists unfurled a banner on the side of the summit venue warning of the climate emergency.
Continue reading...EU risks splits over Brexit trade talks, says new council chief
Charles Michel, who replaces Donald Tusk, says bloc has to work hard to keep unity
The EU is ready for the next phase of Brexit but risks greater internal divisions over trade talks with the UK, one of its incoming leaders has said.
In one of his first interviews since being nominated president of the European council, Charles Michel said Brexit may have played an important role in bringing the EU together.
Continue reading...Quarter of world’s pig population ‘to die of African swine fever’
World Organisation for Animal Health warns spread of disease has inflamed worldwide crisis
About a quarter of the global pig population is expected to die as a result of the African swine fever (ASF) epidemic, according to the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE).
Global pork prices are rising spurred by growing demand from China, where as many as 100 million pigs have died since ASF broke out there last year. In recent months, China has been granting export approval to foreign meat plants and signing deals around the world at a dizzying rate. US pork sales to China have doubled, while European pork prices have now reached a six-year high.
Continue reading...Belgian police find 12 people ‘safe and well’ in refrigerated lorry
Migrants were found a week after UK police launched murder investigation into death of 39 people in Essex
Belgian police say they have found 12 people “safe and well” in a refrigerated lorry, one week after 39 people lost their lives in a similar vehicle that had travelled to Essex via continental Europe.
The migrants were discovered in the back of a fruit and vegetable lorry on the motorway, near the Flemish town of Oud-Turnhout, in the early hours of Wednesday. Police said they found 12 adult men: 11 Syrians and one Sudanese citizen.
Continue reading...Belgium to evacuate Isis suspects from Syria detention camps
Other European states also preparing to repatriate citizens accused of Isis links via safe zone
Belgium and other European states are preparing to evacuate citizens accused of having links to Islamic State from detention camps in north-eastern Syria through a newly declared safe zone being carved out by Turkish forces along the border.
Belgian officials informed family members of detainees held in two camps on Friday that they would attempt to take advantage of a five-day ceasefire to retrieve nationals allegedly tied to the terror group. The Guardian has learned that other European states, including France and Germany, are also looking at ways to take advantage of the window declared by US vice-president Mike Pence on Thursday to repatriate women and children.
Continue reading...Environment groups offer €30k reward to identify wolf’s killer
Naya, the first wolf sighted in Belgium for a century, believed to have been killed by hunters
Environmental groups are offering a €30,000 (£27,000) reward for information that helps identify who killed Naya, the first wolf sighted in Belgium for a century when she entered the country last year.
The wolf’s arrival completed the return of the predator to every mainland country in Europe, turning back decades of persecution.
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