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☆ More than 20,000 people join pro-Palestinian rally in Brussels
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/3] People take part in a protest in support of Palestinians in Gaza, as the conflict between Israel and Palestinian Islamist group Hamas continues, in Brussels, Belgium, November 11, 2023. "What is happening right now in Gaza is beyond devastating," one demonstrator said, carrying a poster that read "Ceasefire now!" But the Israeli military response has also prompted anger, with protests in cities around the world demanding a ceasefire. In London, more than 100,000 pro-Palestinian protesters took to the streets on Saturday. In Paris, several thousand demonstrators, including some left-wing lawmakers, marched with Palestinian flags and banners to call for a ceasefire in Gaza.

Persons: Yves Herman Acquire, Benjamin Netanyahu, Bart Biesemans, Lucien Libert, Claudia Greco, Sabine Siebold, Helen Popper Our Organizations: Hamas, REUTERS, Rights, Saturday, Thomson Locations: Gaza, Israel, Palestinian, Brussels, Belgium, Rights BRUSSELS, Western, London, Paris

☆ More Than 20,000 People Join Pro-Palestinian Rally in Brussels
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-11 | by ( Nov. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +1 min

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - About 21,000 people took part in a pro-Palestinian rally in Brussels on Saturday, police said, many chanting slogans such as "Free Palestine" and demanding a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip as they marched peacefully through the city. "What is happening right now in Gaza is beyond devastating," one demonstrator said, carrying a poster that read "Ceasefire now!" But the Israeli military response has also prompted anger, with protests in cities around the world demanding a ceasefire. In London, more than 100,000 pro-Palestinian protesters took to the streets on Saturday. In Paris, several thousand demonstrators, including some left-wing lawmakers, marched with Palestinian flags and banners to call for a ceasefire in Gaza.

Persons: Benjamin Netanyahu, Bart Biesemans, Lucien Libert, Claudia Greco, Sabine Siebold, Helen Popper Organizations: Saturday Locations: BRUSSELS, Brussels, Gaza, Israel, Western, London, Paris

The fishermen and women's proximity to the coastal waters has made them front-line witnesses of how climate change is altering the ecosystem of the North Sea. Oceans have absorbed 90% of the global warming that humans have caused in the last few decades, according to NASA. In the North Sea, surface temperatures have increased by around 0.3 degrees Celsius per decade since 1991. While shrimp populations fluctuate during short-term changes like heatwaves, fishermen and scientists report increases in lesser weever fish and squid, traditionally found further south but which have moved north into Belgium's warming waters. North Sea cod populations have plummeted since the 1980s, which scientists attribute to rising sea temperatures and overfishing.

Persons: Gunther Vanbleu, Martha, anorak, Vanbleu, Eddy D'Hulster, Ilias Semmouri, Hans Polet, ILVO, Polet, I'm, Kate Abnett, Bart Biesemans, Bernadette Baum Organizations: UNESCO, Reuters, NASA, Ghent University, Thomson Locations: Belgian, Oostduinkerke, BRUSSELS, Flanders

☆ New routes, old coaches: Europe's night trains struggle to pick up speed
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-03 | by ( Rachel More | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

They travelled with European Sleeper, a Dutch-Belgian startup whose launch in May is part of a renaissance of night train travel. CHALLENGESYears of decline in Europe's night train network coincided with the rise of low-cost airlines. Supporters of night trains are pushing for more state help to compete against budget airlines, such as a value-added tax exemption on cross-border routes and lower track access charges. At night, trains compete with freight traffic and construction works, and during the busy morning hours they vie for arrival slots at stations with commuter services. Sarah and Sonia's train, European Sleeper's ES453 service, pulled in at 7.57 a.m., one hour and nine minutes late.

Persons: Bart Biesemans, Sarah, Sonia, Chris Engelsman, Engelsman, Alberto Mazzola, Sonia didn't, Victoria Klesty, Matthias Williams, Mark Potter Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Berlin Central Station, Reuters Graphics, Reuters, OBB, Siemens Mobility, European Union, Thomson Locations: Berlin, Brussels, Belgium, Dutch, Belgian, Europe, Paris, Zurich, Norwegian, Oslo, Copenhagen, Prague, Amsterdam, Barcelona, France

[1/8] Police barricade tape is seen at a cordoned-off area after a police operation in Schaerbeek near Brussels, Belgium October 17, 2023. REUTERS/Bart Biesemans Acquire Licensing RightsBRUSSELS, Oct 17 (Reuters) - Belgian police on Tuesday shot and wounded a 45-year-old Tunisian suspected of killing two Swedish football fans in Brussels, Belgian media said. Interior Minister Annelies Verlinden said earlier the wounded man was suspected of being the gunman. The suspected gunman, calling himself Abdesalem Al Guilani, claimed in a video on social media that he was a fighter for Allah. According to a media transcript of the video message recorded by the self-declared perpetrator, he said he had killed Swedes to take revenge in the name of Muslims.

Persons: Bart Biesemans, Annelies Verlinden, Verlinden, Philippe Close, BFM, Alexander De Croo, De Croo, de Croo, Vincent Van Quickenborne, Abdesalem Al Guilani, Philip Blenkinsop, Bart Meijer, Benoit van Overstraeten, Jan Strupczewski, Tassilo Hummel, Zhifan Liu, Ingrid Melander, Gerry Doyle, Christina Fincher, Nick Macfie Organizations: Police, REUTERS, Rights, Belgian, Islamic State, Red Devils soccer, Palestinian, Thomson Locations: Schaerbeek, Brussels, Belgium, Rights BRUSSELS, Belgian, Sweden, Israel

☆ Suspect in Rotterdam shootings had troubled past, targeted victims
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-29 | by ( Bart Biesemans | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/4] FILE PHOTO-A general view shows the house of a victim of a shooting in Rotterdam, Netherlands, September 28, 2023. Law enforcement sources confirmed the 32-year-old suspect's name as Fouad L., with his surname not publishable under Dutch privacy laws. The prosecutor's spokesperson confirmed the authenticity of a letter from prosecutors to the EMC circulating on Dutch media. It described the suspect having "psychotic behaviour" and alcohol troubles as well as complaints from neighbours over his treatment of animals. Rotterdam's chief prosecutor Hugo Hillenaar said on Thursday the suspect had a history of police run-ins.

Persons: de, Prosecutors, Stefan Sleijfer, Fouad L, Roos Bonnier, Hugo Hillenaar, Toby Sterling, Anthony Deutsch, Philippa Fletcher Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Erasmus University Medical Centre, EMC, Reuters, Erasmus Medical Center, Thomson Locations: Rotterdam, Netherlands, Rights ROTTERDAM

☆ Exiled Catalan leader sets tough terms for talks on Spain's new PM
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-05 | by ( Bart Biesemans | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Acting Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez would need the seven lawmakers in Carles Puigdemont's Junts per Catalunya party if he gets a shot at forming a government. Speaking in Brussels, Puigdemont called on Spain to respect the Catalan independence movement's legitimacy and abandon judicial actions against it. "A world separates us from those positions," Rodriguez told reporters of Puigdemont's conditions. "Our framework is the one that the prime minister expressed with absolute forcefulness yesterday: We have a tool, dialogue; a framework, the constitution; and an objective: coexistence." If Feijoo fails, it will fall on Sanchez to see if he can muster support, seen as impossible without Puigdemont's party.

Persons: Junts, Pedro Sanchez, Carles Puigdemont's Junts, Puigdemont, Isabel Rodriguez, Rodriguez, Alberto Nunez Feijoo, Feijoo, Sanchez, Oriol Bartomeus, Bartomeus, Bart Biesemans, Inti Landauro, Emma Pinedo, David Latona, Charlie Devereux, Andrei Khalip, Peter Graff, Alison Williams Organizations: Socialist, Socialists, People's Party, Autonomous University of Barcelona, PSOE, Vox, Inti, Thomson Locations: BRUSSELS, Catalonia, Spain, Catalunya, Brussels, Belgium, Madrid

☆ Thousands of redheads celebrate at annual festival in the Netherlands
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/5] Bryan, 21, looks at a woman, 20, both from Germany, as they attend the annual Redhead Days Festival in Tilburg, Netherlands, August 27, 2023. REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw Acquire Licensing RightsTILBURG, The Netherlands, Aug 27 (Reuters) - Thousands of people gathered in the Netherlands this weekend to celebrate their red hair at the annual Redhead Days Festival in the southern town of Tilburg. Scottish Liam Hunter, 30, told Reuters attending the three-day festival made him feel better about himself. The Dutch festival started by accident after organiser and amateur painter Bart Rouwenhorst placed an ad in a regional newspaper in 2005 for 15 models with red hair and 150 people responded. In 2013, the festival entered the Guinness World Records book as the largest gathering of people with natural red hair with 1,672 redheads in the traditional group picture.

Persons: Bryan, de Wouw, Liam Hunter, Hunter, I'm, Redheads, Bart Rouwenhorst, Rouwenhorst, Piroschka van de Wouw, Bart Biesemans, Stephanie van den Berg, Sharon Singleton Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Reuters, Guinness, Records, Thomson Locations: Germany, Tilburg , Netherlands, The Netherlands, Netherlands, Tilburg, Northern, Northwestern

☆ Belgian hospital pioneers pet visits to patients
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-06 | by ( Bart Biesemans | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/3] Greta Donnay, 56, who is hospitalized at Sint-Trudo hospital, plays with her dog Rambo, in Sint-Truiden, Belgium July 5, 2023. REUTERS/Bart BiesemansSINT-TRUIDEN, Belgium, July 6 (Reuters) - A Belgian hospital has built a pavilion to allow pets to visit patients who are in palliative care or with illnesses that require long-term care in a bid to boost patients' wellbeing. Most hospitals worldwide do not allow pet visits for reasons of hygiene and contamination risks, and for years long-term patients at the Sint-Trudo hospital who wanted to see their pets had to do that in the hospital courtyard. But in conversations between cancer patients and hospital psychologists, the idea grew for a dedicated indoor space - separate from but connected to the hospital - and the result is a pet visit pavilion that opened last month. "For long-term hospital residents, mental wellbeing is very important in their recovery, and reconnecting with pets really helps," said spokeswoman Miet Driesen at Sint-Trudo in Sint-Truiden, Belgium.

Persons: Greta Donnay, Rambo, Bart Biesemans SINT, Miet Driesen, you've, Driesen, Bart Biesemans, Geert De Clercq, Sandra Maler Organizations: Sint, REUTERS, Belgian, Thomson Locations: Sint, Truiden, Belgium, TRUIDEN

☆ Jury in Brussels bombing trial set to consider verdict
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-06 | by ( Marine Strauss | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The Brussels bombings killed 15 men and 17 women from almost a dozen countries -- many of whom lived in the city which is home to European Union institutions and NATO. The accused men will have a last opportunity to speak before the jury has to answer more than 300 questions and will go into full isolation for about two weeks, unprecedented in Belgium. Six of the accused were found guilty in June 2022 of involvement in terror attacks in Paris in November 2015, which killed 130 people. One of the group is presumed to have been killed in Syria and is being tried in absentia. ($1 = 0.9217 euros)Reporting by Marine Strauss, Bart Biesemans, editing by Alexandra HudsonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Salah Abdeslam, Sebastien Delhez, Marine Strauss, Bart Biesemans, Alexandra Hudson Organizations: State, Islamic State, European Union, NATO, Life, Alexandra Hudson Our, Thomson Locations: Brussels, Paris, BRUSSELS, Belgium, Syria

Dr. Gert ter Haar, a specialist in short-muzzled animals at the AniCura veterinary hospital, widened her nostrils and performed other procedures to improve her breathing. Dogs are being bred for their looks, but people tend to forget about their health, said Ter Haar, who recommended potential pet owners should consult a vet before buying. On many, many organs", Dr. Ter Haar said. Dr. Ter Haar said pugs and French bulldogs are mostly affected, although larger dogs such as boxers and chows can also suffer from overbreeding. Dutch Minister of Agriculture and Nature Piet Adema has drafted a legal change to ban harmful characteristics after a transitional period during which owners of overbred pets will be exempt.

Persons: XXL Pablo, Read, Katja, Ilia, Abby, Gert ter Haar, Ter Haar, pugs, Nature Piet Adema, Charlotte Van Campenhout, Bart Biesemans, Anthony Deutsch, Barbara Lewis Organizations: French bulldogs, Agriculture, Nature, Thomson Locations: Utrecht, UTRECHT, Netherlands, Dutch

☆ Three Europeans return home after release by Iran in prisoner swap
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-03 | by ( Charlotte Van Campenhout | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

They arrived around 2:45 a.m. (0045 GMT) and were greeted by Belgian Foreign Minister Hadja Lahbib, Belgium's Belga news agency reported. Danish citizen Thomas Kjems flew on to Copenhagen, landing at around 11 a.m. (0900 GMT) on Saturday. Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg tweeted photos of the two Austrians arriving in Vienna. Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian tweeted on Saturday that he had told Lahbib that he hoped the prisoners' release would "open a new page" in Iran's relations with Belgium and Europe. Belgian government officials said that officially there were still 22 Europeans in Iranian prisons, but that no more Europeans would be exchanged for Assadi.

Persons: Thomas Kjems, Read, Dane, Asadollah Assadi, Olivier Vandecasteele, Assadi, Hadja Lahbib, Belgium's, It's, I've, Alexander Schallenberg, Hossein Amirabdollahian, Lahbib, Amirabdollahian, Massud Mosaheb, Kamran Ghaderi, Lars Lokke Rasmussen, Kazem, Ahmadreza, Louise Rasmussen, Tom Little, Charlotte Van Campenhout, Bart Biesemans, Andrew Gray, Francois Murphy, Hugh Lawson, Mark Potter, Frances Kerry Organizations: Copenhagen Airport, Europeans, Belgian Foreign, Austrian, Ministry, Austrian Friendship Society, Danish, Assadi, Iranian, Thomson Locations: Copenhagen, Denmark, Iran, BRUSSELS, DUBAI, Tehran, Belgian, Belgium, France, Oman, Danish, Vienna, Iranian, Europe, ., Swedish, Brussels, Dubai

[1/5] Cars belonging to the Palmen collection are displayed in the warehouse in which they were stored over the last 40 years, ahead of Friday's auction, in Dordrecht, Netherlands May 25, 2023. He never showed off his cars but rather kept them a secret, scared people might steal them, Nico Aaldering from Gallery Aaldering said. Palmen could afford to buy the cars thanks to smart investments, including in real estate, said Hans van der Pluijm from Classic Car Auctions, which is running the auction. "It's a collection you will probably never find in this condition, in this quantity again," said Hans van der Pluijm from Classic Car Auctions. It's special in every shape and it's wanted in every collection," Van der Pluijm said.

☆ French pension protesters flood LVMH headquarters in Paris
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/3] Security members stand in front of the headquarters of luxury retailer Louis Vuitton after a protest action French SNCF workers, members of French CGT and Sud Rail labour unions in Paris as part of the 12th day of nationwide strikes and protests against French government's pension reform, in Paris, France, April 13, 2023. REUTERS/Bart BiesemansPARIS, April 13 (Reuters) - Scores of French workers protesting against pension reforms flooded into the Paris headquarters of luxury group LVMH (LVMH.PA) on Thursday, calling for the rich to contribute more to financing the state pension. France's labour unions have been staging strikes and marches since mid-January in protest against President Emmanuel Macron's plans to raise the legal retirement age. The government says it is necessary to raise the retirement age for most workers to balance the pension budget in years to come. Reporting by Bart Biesemans and Ingrid Melander, writing by Mimosa Spencer; editing by Susan FentonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

KORTRIJK, Belgium, March 14 (Reuters) - Hospital food would normally rank alongside school lunches on the culinary charts but a hospital in western Belgium has broken the stereotype after winning approval from a prestigious French restaurant guide. AZ Groeninge in the city of Kortrijk becomes the first hospital in the Benelux to be officially recognised by Gault & Millau for the quality of the food it serves to its patients. The hospital brought in Gault & Millau experts to inspect their food and offer advice for improvement, notably for their fish dishes, their sauces and their potato servings. The guide subsequently determined that the hospital's food was of a high standard, and Declerck said he would be happy to serve up some of its dishes in his own home. The meals prepared for patients will not actually feature in the annual restaurant guide but have been officially certified by Gault & Millau for 2023.

☆ With ostrich feathers and flying oranges, Belgian carnival returns after COVID
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( Gabriela Baczynska | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

"That is more visitors than the year before the COVID pandemic," said the spokesman, Patrick Haumont. "For two years in a row, there was no carnival and people missed all this, they missed the carnival, they missed the party." On reaching the town's main square for the parade's big finale, the Gilles don elaborate ostrich feather hats weighing several kilograms. Pierrots, sailors, harlequins and peasants follow in the procession, small bells sewn to their costumes ringing as local brass bands play the streets. Additional reporting by Clement Rossignol and Bart Biesemans, Writing by Gabriela Baczynska; Editing by Bill BerkrotOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

BRUSSELS, Feb 14 (Reuters) - In dating, they say there are plenty more fish in the sea. For 1,363 speed daters meeting in Brussels on Tuesday, the bigger the sea, the better the chances of catching something. Organiser Dare to Date billed the Valentine's Day event as the world's biggest ever speed date, saying it smashed the previous record of 964 participants set in Dublin, Ireland, in 2019. "Speed dating is really cool because there are so many different people and they're maybe people we wouldn't have said 'yes' to on Tinder." Dare to Date event manager Jill de Graaf said it was time to reclaim Valentine's Day for singles.

☆ Paddle your own pumpkin: racers descend on Belgian pond
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-24 | by ( Charlotte Campenhout | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Contestants compete during the Pumpkin Regatta, an annual pumpkin boat relay race, in the Belgian town of Kasterlee, Belgium October 23, 2022. REUTERS/Bart BiesemansKASTERLEE, Belgium, Oct 23 (Reuters) - Hundreds of competitors, many dressed up as pirates, nuns, animals or vegetables, climbed into carved-out pumpkins and paddled them around a pond in northern Belgium, in an annual relay race. Racing the huge vegetables takes some skill - "when you paddle, it doesn't move forward but starts spinning", local competitor Jonas Verbruggen said - and this year some fell in the water after their pumpkins took too much water. Racer Oscar Guell, a Spaniard living in Brussels, called the experience "dirty, sticky and oily" - before gleefully adding that he'd definitely be back next year. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Charlotte Van Campenhout; editing by John StonestreetOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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