VRT NWS: news

Almost half of the people suspected of hate crimes against LGBT persons are aged under 18 according to daily Het Laatste Nieuws that makes the claim based on figures requested by MP Alexander Van Hoecke (far right Vlaams Belang).

Last Friday in Bertem (Flemish Brabant), an 18-month-old child died after spending the whole day in a car.

More than 50 of Flanders’ indoor public swimming pools have closed over the past 20 years as it becomes too expensive for local authorities to continue running them.

Belgium is an international outlier when it comes to end-of-life care, according to euthanasia expert Wim Distelmans.

The water bill for an average household in Flanders has risen above €500 for the first time this year, according to a report by the region’s utilities regulator, VNR.

Ghent police have launched an investigation following an Instagram video shared by influencer Jonatan Medart, in which he and his boyfriend are harassed by a group of men.

Mona Mina Leon has become the first female Belgian actress to be nominated for an International Emmy Award.

Belgian astronaut Raphaël Liégeois is undergoing training as an army reservist, following encouragement from Defence minister Theo Francken.

A three-year-old who choked while eating lunch at a school in Antwerp has died, police have confirmed.

A plane carrying 40 tonnes of emergency aid has travelled from Belgium to Nepal.

The bodies of two Ukrainian soldiers were repatriated from Belgium on Tuesday morning.

Researchers in Ghent are supporting residential care homes to make better use of AI in caring for people with dementia.

The long escalator that takes passengers from the lower platforms to the main hall at Antwerp Central station will remain out of service for several more weeks.

Cartoonist Philippe Geluck is set to open a museum dedicated to his character Le Chat (The Cat) in Elsene in early 2028.

The open-air events organised around Brussels by the Hangar collective are coming under increasing scrutiny.

More than 490 suspects have been arrested as part of a large-scale international police operation against organised crime.

A father has been sentenced to 23 years in prison for the murder of his teenage son.

Egbert Lachaert, former leader of the Flemish liberal party, will sit in the Flemish Parliament as an independent.

Twenty municipalities in the Flemish periphery around Brussels are to be granted a partial exemption for the construction of social housing.

A total of 46 flights are expected to be cancelled on Saturday at Charleroi Airport if air traffic controllers continue their strike action, according to a spokesperson for the airport.

Eighty years ago, on the night of 18 September 1946, a plane operated by the Belgian airline Sabena crashed in forests in Newfoundland, today part of Canada.

If Belgium is to become carbon-neutral by 2050, in addition to a significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, there is a need for reforestation and a radical transformation of land use, agricultural practices and forest management.

Bilingualism within the Brussels police force is falling, with less than half of officers able to communicate in both French and Dutch.