Belgium

Brussels is the de facto capital of the Comic Book and each year thousands of visitors gather for a festival dedicated to all things cartoon. But its not just for laughs. Fictional characters offer the opportunity to discuss more serious subject matter. We went to find out.

Despite their age, the competitors demonstrated considerable stamina – the final relay race had been re-run several times before the athletes could be persuaded to sit down for tea and cake.

The liberation of Brussels took only a few hours and saw only a little combat. Freeing the city was symbolic, but its historic importance lives on in the Belgian capital.

Wallonia moved against the religious slaughter of animals

Politically, it was a brutal end to this year's summer vacation, the G7 summit in Biarritz. Meanwhile, Belgium remains without a government. A private company launched a sort of a giant blind date to discuss the political divides. All this and more in State of the Union.

The nationalist right and extreme right prevailed in the Flemish north of the country. In Wallonia, the majority voted for the socialist party and the greens.

In this edition we look at the potential for detente with Iran and an initiative in Belgium to bridge the political divide over beer.

Anti-racism campaigners have criticised a folk festival featuring a character called "the savage". The character, played by a white actor in blackface makeup, is paraded through the town in chains.

Pressure is mounting for UNESCO to remove a Belgian festival from its cultural heritage list. The a blackface character known as 'the savage' in a parade in the town of Ath has drawn strong criticism from anti-racist campaigners.

Pressure mounts on EU leaders to act against the deforestation in Brasil. One Hungarian MEP called on the European Parliament to block EU-Mercosur agreement unless Brasil gives guarantees to stop deforestation.

The sculpture is made from 200 tonnes of steel and was set in 2,800 tonnes of concrete.

First taking place in 1903, this year will be the 106th edition of the iconic sporting event.

"We came in festival clothes and nothing else, so we couldn't go anywhere," a festival goer who travelled from the UK to Belgium told The Cube.

Temperatures soared in Brussels on Monday (June 24) kicking off a heatwave with temperatures of 32 degrees Celsius expected in the Belgian capital from Tuesday, up to 34 degrees in the north of the country.

In the final part of our "Divided Belgium" series, we take a look at why the far-left did so well in Wallonia. In other news, Adidas lost its stripes and Renew Europe announced its leader. Watch the Brief from Brussels to learn more.

It took the Belgium 541 days to form a government last time.

How is a far-right party further dividing Belgium? Will Germany be allowed to create a new motorway toll? Who is the next leader of the Social Democrats? All this and more on Tuesday's Brief from Brussels.

A Gilets Jaunes protest was taken over by black-hooded demonstrators and turned violent in Brussels, forcing authorities to detain 350 people.

From the far-right to the far-left, these political parties have taken on a divisive approach to getting voters to the polls.

As the voting begins today for the EU elections, our Road Trip Europe comes to an end. Our correspondents Meabh McMahon and Jona Kallgren are in Ninove, Belgium, where they listened to the concerns of local people for one last time.