A fierce fire raged in a squat in the Sint-Jansstraat in the City of Brussels last night. Nine people suffered symptoms of smoke inhalation and had to be transferred to hospital. “At about 5:10, the 112-emergency centre received several calls about a fire in the Sint-Jansstraat” says Walter Derieuw of the Brussels fire service. “Police

Belgium striker Romelu Lukaku scored four first-half goals to lead a 5-0 rout of 10-man Azerbaijan in their final European Championship qualifying game on Sunday. By JOSEPH WILSON – Associated Press Spain’s 3-1 win over Georgia was overshadowed by Barcelona midfielder Gavi suffering what appeared to be a serious injury to his right knee. Lukaku

To mark World Toilet Day at the weekend, Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft, shared a video about his visit to the Brussels Sewer Museum. November 19 is World Toilet Day and that day is close to the heart of Bill Gates, the former CEO of software giant Microsoft. To mark the day, he shared a

The Brussels public transport company MIVB is to receive extra funding from the regional authorities in the capital to keep homeless people and drug users out of the city’s metro stations. Extra staff will be recruited whose job it will be to patrol the metro day and night. They will put rough sleepers and those

The Federal Justice Department has told the guardians of unaccompanied minors that have applied for asylum in Belgium that the fund used to pay them has run out. This means that for the time being at least they will receive no further payments. The situation is described as “temporary” as is said to have come

The popular café in the centre of the Belgian and Flemish capital will reopen at the end of the January. ‘Billie’ as the café will henceforth be called will again serve its famous beers and pastas. The Monk was obliged to close at the beginning of May as the lease ended and no agreement could

Last week it was the cabin crews at Brussels Airlines, this week it’s the pilots that have given notification of strike action. Pilots are unhappy about work pressure and are threatening strike action from 11 December onwards. “They are asking for structural measures to build more rest into their schedules,” says Jolinde Defieuw of the

The urban planning department of the City of Brussels has sealed an entire building that has been providing illegal tourist accommodation. A professional operator was offering stays at four flats near Brussels’ historic market square, often called the Grand Place, on Airbnb. The proprietor owns several properties in the historic downtown that he offers for

The Brussels government now believes the new Metro 3 line will not be operational before 2034, but in the meantime tram line 55 is becoming increasingly congested. Brussels Mobility and local transport company MIVB have looked at 13 above-ground options to remedy this. The various options are set out in a memo to be discussed

Police checks in the City of Brussels and Elsene resulted in 110 motorists being caught using their mobile phones while driving.  One driver even drove through a red light. Police in the City of Brussels and Elsene needed only 3 hours to catch the 110 drivers yesterday morning.  Motorists came up with numerous excuses to