Belgium

Europe News

Pope gives farewell mass in stadium before departing Belgium

Francis' visit to Belgium was always going to be difficult given the country's history of clerical sexual abuse and its increasingly secular society.

29/09/2024

Europe News

Pope meets homeless and undocumented in Brussels

As part of his trip to Belgium, Pope Francis made a surprise visit to Saint Gilles where he met with homeless and undocumented people.

28/09/2024

Europe News

Pope Francis criticised by students on visit to Catholic university in

The students questioned why the Catholic church has so few women in top positions and why their intellectual contribution had often been disregarded.

28/09/2024

Brussels, My Love?

Brussels, my love? Middle East horror unfolds from afar

After the EU's top diplomat Josep Borrell called the situation in Lebanon "extremely dangerous and worrying", is the world now witnessing another fullscale war?

28/09/2024

Europe News

Women in Belgium travel to the Netherlands for later term abortions

In Belgium abortion is legal 12 weeks after conception, with many women travelling across the border to the Netherlands in order to terminate pregnancies later.

27/09/2024

Earth News

Commission sees role for nuclear and CCS in 'clean' fuel production

Trains, automobiles and even planes could be run on nuclear power or even natural gas while being treated as ‘green’ under proposed EU rules

27/09/2024

Health news

Commission cautious on onshoring drug production to the EU

Pandemic exposed EU states to worrying pharma supply shortages, leading to widespread calls for more home-manufactured pharma.

27/09/2024

Tech News

Meta hit with €91 million fine for lax password safety 

Big tech company Meta is ordered to pay a €91m data protection fine for not having enough user password protection in place, the Irish data watchdog said.

27/09/2024

Belgium

Pope Francis condemns Catholic Church's 'shameful' abuse in Belgium

Earlier on Friday, Belgium's prime minister blasted the pontiff for the Catholic Church's horrific legacy, demanding "concrete steps" to come clean with the past and put victims' interests ahead of those of the institution.

27/09/2024

Tech News

Cyber certificate debate to land on plate of incoming Commission

New EU Tech Commissioner Henna Virkkunen will have to improve the adoption processes of certification schemes, her mission letter says.

27/09/2024

Belgium

Pope makes hope-inspired trip to 'heart of Europe' amid abuse scandal

While in Belgium, Pope Francis will have to face a backlash against local church authorities amid child abuse scandals. The Vatican hopes the visit will also help the EU "rediscover its roots".

27/09/2024

Health news

EU disease prevention agency new chief seeks better public engagement

New chief Pamela Rendi-Wagner says European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) should do more to combat disinformation and appeal to wider audience.

26/09/2024

Europe News

Six EU countries call for tough DSA action against platforms like Shein, Temu

Germany, Austria, Poland, Denmark, the Netherlands and France call for a unified approach in enforcing EU-standards in e-commerce.

26/09/2024

Belgium

Pope to face appalling Catholic abuse legacy on Belgium trip

Revelations of Belgium's horrific abuse scandal have dribbled out in bits since 2010, when the country's longest-serving bishop was allowed to resign without punishment, after admitting he had sexually abused his nephew.

26/09/2024

Europe News

Italy, Germany to propose rethink on petrol and diesel car ban

Rome and Berlin are siding with the European automotive industry in calling for the EU to relax CO2 emissions standards for cars as the bloc aims to end the sale of new petrol and diesel models by 2035.

25/09/2024

Europe News

European countries urge nationals to leave Lebanon

Portugal, Spain, France and the UK have issued warnings to their nationals in Lebanon to return home while commercial flights remain available.

25/09/2024

Earth News

Uber calls on EU to ban combustion engines on ridesharing cars by 2030

Multinational ride-hailing company is also calling on binding targets for the production of electric vehicles in the European market along with adequate incentives to ease the climate transition.

25/09/2024

Europe News

EU Parliament's left signals warning over Dutch Commission nominee

The choice of former Dutch finance minister Wopke Hoekstra to run EU tax policy has drawn attention from MEPs given previous links to tax havens, and the Netherlands’ status as a hub for corporate tax avoidance.

25/09/2024

Economy

OECD: Belgium needs to cut public spending to reduce debt and deficit

The debt keeps swelling and if no action is taken, the OECD warns, it could reach 200% of the GDP by 2050.

25/09/2024

Nature

Wolves in crosshairs as EU governments agree to more hunting and culls

Nature conservationists have denounced as ‘shameful’ a back-room agreement that saw all but two EU governments acquiesce to a European Commission proposal to ease protection for Europe’s burgeoning wolf populations.

25/09/2024

Business

Google complains to EU over Microsoft cloud licensing practices

Google files an antitrust complaint to the European Commission against its competitor on the cloud market.

25/09/2024

Tech News

OpenAI, Microsoft, Amazon among first AI Pact signatories

The voluntary AI Pact aims to help companies comply with the EU's AI Act

25/09/2024

wellbeing

Should the EU regulate burgeoning health influencers?

With health content booming on social media, experts and lawmakers are mulling regulation of social media influencers, prioritising ‘credible’ content creators.

25/09/2024

Europe News

'Corrosive': Commission rejects greater revolving doors transparency

The European Commission says it won’t immediately publish details of the restrictions placed on Henrik Morch, whose move earlier this year from its antitrust department to law firm Paul, Weiss drew protests from EU Ombudsman Emily O’Reilly.

25/09/2024

Europe News

Lebanese ambassador: Israeli attacks are an existential threat to us

In an interview with Euronews, Ambassador of Lebanon to Belgium Fadi Hajali called on Brussels to go one step further in imposing sanctions on Israel.

25/09/2024

Europe News

Eva Kaili judge orders review of Belgian spies' role

The ex-MEP, who has denied charges of corruption and money laundering, won her bid to examine whether the Belgian secret service played an illegal role in her 2022 arrest.

24/09/2024