Europe Belgium Cocaine use in Belgium has risen sharply in recent years, according to a new report by the public health institute Sciensano; requests for cocaine treatment have increased from 2.500 in 2015 to 4.200 in 2022
Europe Belgium Brussels announced a €6,3 million budget to renovate the Jewish Museum and Forest Abbey; the works at Forest Abbey aim to renew and strengthen its role as a cultural centre by uniting several cultural institutions
Europe Belgium Chocolate giant Barry Callebaut has announced plans to cut hundreds of jobs at several sites, including the world's largest chocolate factory in Wieze, producing 270.000 tons a year
Europe Belgium In an attempt to tackle the challenge of decommissioning nuclear power plants and managing radioactive waste, Belgian researchers are developing a state-of-the-art metal melting furnace to reduce the radioactive waste content in metals
Europe Belgium Hundreds of farmers from all over Europe gathered in the capital Brussels to protest against the green deal on the occasion of extraordinary summit that is supposed to discuss how to respond to the protests
Europe Belgium The Belgian federal government is launching a new awareness-raising campaign to urge citizens to get a free box of iodine tablets to keep in their homes, especially those living within 20 kilometres of a nuclear plant
Europe Belgium Belgian prison staff went on a 24-hour strike starting at 10 p.m. on Thursday evening to protest against overcrowding and poor working conditions; Belgian prisons currently house around 12.000 people, exceeding the capacity by around 1.300 inmates
Europe Belgium Mobile data usage nearly doubled (+95%) on New Year's Eve compared to the previous year, operator Proximus announced, according to figures compiled between 20:00 on 31 December and 08:00 on 1 January
Europe Belgium As part of a national action plan to combat sepsis, the country is mobilising a specialised team; a recent Belgian TV programme on this potentially lethal disease caused a stir in parliament
Europe Belgium Various Belgian and European civil society groups started a two-week 'Not this Pact' campaign with the aim of cancelling the currently negotiated EU Pact on Migration and Asylum and starting afresh
Europe Belgium The centuries-old typical Belgian irrigation technique has been recognised by UNESCO as a intangible cultural heritage of humanity; the irrigation technique is linked to a specific vocabulary and requires knowledge handed down from older generations
Europe Belgium Belgian DJ Charlotte De Witte has been voted 'best techno DJ' in the world by the British magazine DJ Mag for the fourth year running
Europe Belgium Although the energy crisis is over, some 40.000 eligible Belgians are still waiting for last year's basic support package; the federal government spent more than €2 billion on two energy premium packages for the winter 2022-2023