Belgium

A wildfire in the High Fens nature reserve started on 14 August destroyed 3000 hectares out of 4500; 50 houses in Waimes and Bütgenbach, a vacation hot-spot, were evacuated

A new regional park tailored to the local neighbourhood will be created along the railway line leading to Brussels-Midi station in Forest, just by the Wiels contemporary art museum and will be a green regeneration of the heavily built Midi quarter

Flanders approved the use of self-driving Tesla vehicles on its roads, despite the Flemish administration's doubts about the readiness of the system and the fact that the decision impacts the whole Belgian

Singer and actress Pommelien Thijs, currently one of the biggest pop stars in Flanders with massive hits like "Per Ongeluk", adds to the list of stars that are almost unknown in the rest of Belgium, like Camille, Natalia and Selah Sue

One of Belgium’s most promising cyclists for a generation, Jilke Michielsen, has tragically died at 19 due to terminal bone cancer; the cycling world mourned the loss of the talented cyclist, who had become a teenage sensation thanks to her successes

Floralia Brussels, the flower festival at its 23rd edition, has opened in Château de Grand-Bigard to showcase a garden with more than one million tulips of 400 varieties and an array of spring flowers

The Brussels citizens’ collective '40 Comités' in an open letter called on the Capital Region's new Minister-President to tackle insecurity and cleanliness, and to further step up the fight against poverty and homelessness

A medical crisis team will be set up in Flanders to help people during large-scale health and welfare emergencies; initially the new team will comprise around 100 medical volunteers, enabling the service to respond to a crisis situation in 48 hours

The number of vacancies requiring a university degree has fallen to an all-time low, -35% y-o-y with market losing 23% of job offers; administrative and IT are the less required jobs as experts say artificial intelligence is not the only cause

An investigation will clarify the incident aboard the M940 Oostende, a new minehunter, occurred at Zeebrugge docks in West Flanders, as smoke was noticed aboard the ship, though no fires were detected

Historic La Chapelle shunting station may be lost as its owners didn't secure investments for renovation; the iconic building is severely damaged and the Port of Brussels may order demolition even as the public calls for it to be used for the community

The number of families waiting for social housing in Brussels Region has risen from 50.000 to over 59.000 in one year; waiting time for securing social housing in the capital ranges from nine to thirteen years, depending on the type of housing requested

10.000 farmers from all EU Member States took to the streets of Brussels to denounce the impact of EU agricultural policy and the controversial EU trade agreement with Mercosur countries, now postponed to no sooner than 2027