https://belgium-now.com/Belgian news in plain EnglishenWed, 28 Oct 2026 14:26:35 +0000https://belgium-now.com/2026/10/28/zaventem-park-stabbing-teenager-suspect-sought/https://belgium-now.com/2026/10/28/zaventem-park-stabbing-teenager-suspect-sought/Wed, 28 Oct 2026 14:26:17 +0000A 16-year-old allegedly stabbed a 14-year-old in the back of the head in a Zaventem park near a school on Wednesday morning, and police are searching for the suspect.https://belgium-now.com/2026/10/28/cyclist-beaten-by-motorist-schaerbeek-brussels/https://belgium-now.com/2026/10/28/cyclist-beaten-by-motorist-schaerbeek-brussels/Wed, 28 Oct 2026 13:59:46 +0000A cyclist was beaten by a motorist in Schaerbeek on 14 October after ringing his bell at cars blocking a cycle lane; the attacker was arrested and placed under electronic monitoring.https://belgium-now.com/2026/10/28/federal-government-budget-meeting-sickness-benefits-dispute/https://belgium-now.com/2026/10/28/federal-government-budget-meeting-sickness-benefits-dispute/Wed, 28 Oct 2026 13:59:46 +0000Prime Minister Bart De Wever and his core cabinet meet on Wednesday evening on the federal budget, with no breakthrough expected and sickness benefits for burn-out and depression a key sticking point.https://belgium-now.com/2026/10/28/herentals-plans-175-social-rental-homes-2042/https://belgium-now.com/2026/10/28/herentals-plans-175-social-rental-homes-2042/Wed, 28 Oct 2026 13:59:46 +0000The Flemish city of Herentals plans to add 175 social rental homes by 2042, more than the 160 the Flemish government requires, working with housing association LeefGoed.https://belgium-now.com/2026/10/28/herko-police-extra-patrols-home-burglaries/https://belgium-now.com/2026/10/28/herko-police-extra-patrols-home-burglaries/Wed, 28 Oct 2026 13:59:46 +0000Police zone HerKo will carry out extra checks and patrols in the coming months to combat home burglaries, including checks on buses and trains used by burglars.https://belgium-now.com/2026/10/28/brussels-court-refuses-expel-us-ambassador-bill-white/https://belgium-now.com/2026/10/28/brussels-court-refuses-expel-us-ambassador-bill-white/Wed, 28 Oct 2026 13:56:22 +0000A Brussels summary proceedings judge on Wednesday rejected a demand to have US ambassador Bill White declared persona non grata, saying the decision belongs to the government, not the courts.https://belgium-now.com/2026/10/28/century-old-shells-defused-antwerp-harmoniestraat/https://belgium-now.com/2026/10/28/century-old-shells-defused-antwerp-harmoniestraat/Wed, 28 Oct 2026 13:56:22 +0000Dovo bomb disposal experts defused two artillery shells more than a century old on Tuesday evening after they were found during groundworks in Harmoniestraat in Antwerp.https://belgium-now.com/2026/10/28/cyberattack-belgian-tax-service-myminfin-offline/https://belgium-now.com/2026/10/28/cyberattack-belgian-tax-service-myminfin-offline/Wed, 28 Oct 2026 13:56:22 +0000Belgium's federal tax service FOD Financiën says a cyberattack has forced MyMinfin and other online services offline, and it will extend upcoming filing deadlines.https://belgium-now.com/2026/10/28/hackers-claim-machelen-municipality-data-theft/https://belgium-now.com/2026/10/28/hackers-claim-machelen-municipality-data-theft/Wed, 28 Oct 2026 13:56:22 +0000A hacker collective says it stole 2.9 terabytes from Machelen's municipal administration and is selling it on the darknet for about 1.5 million euros; the claim is unconfirmed.https://belgium-now.com/2026/10/28/justice-committee-no-meeting-i-police-verlinden/https://belgium-now.com/2026/10/28/justice-committee-no-meeting-i-police-verlinden/Wed, 28 Oct 2026 13:56:22 +0000The Justice committee of the federal Chamber will not meet on the i-Police file this week because of the autumn recess, while MR and Vlaams Belang press Justice Minister Annelies Verlinden for answers.https://belgium-now.com/2026/10/28/three-arrested-leuven-prison-drugs-wall/https://belgium-now.com/2026/10/28/three-arrested-leuven-prison-drugs-wall/Wed, 28 Oct 2026 13:56:22 +0000Local police arrested three people, aged 21, 29 and 30, at the auxiliary prison in Leuven on suspicion of trying to throw narcotics over the prison wall.https://belgium-now.com/2026/10/28/missing-man-molenbeek-care-home-found/https://belgium-now.com/2026/10/28/missing-man-molenbeek-care-home-found/Wed, 28 Oct 2026 13:25:55 +0000A 76-year-old man who disappeared from the Scheutbos care home in Molenbeek on Tuesday 27 October has been found in good health, police reported on Wednesday 28 October.https://belgium-now.com/2026/10/28/prosecutor-asks-antwerp-jury-convict-killing/https://belgium-now.com/2026/10/28/prosecutor-asks-antwerp-jury-convict-killing/Wed, 28 Oct 2026 13:25:55 +0000Prosecutors asked the Antwerp assize jury on Wednesday to find a 29-year-old man guilty of manslaughter in the killing of a 37-year-old man, rejecting his self-defence claims.https://belgium-now.com/2026/10/28/truck-accident-antwerp-ring-berchem-traffic-jam/https://belgium-now.com/2026/10/28/truck-accident-antwerp-ring-berchem-traffic-jam/Wed, 28 Oct 2026 13:25:55 +0000A truck accident on the Antwerp Ring near Berchem blocked two lanes towards the Netherlands on Wednesday 28 October, causing a traffic jam of more than an hour.https://belgium-now.com/2026/10/28/belgium-parcel-tax-cuts-cheap-import-declarations/https://belgium-now.com/2026/10/28/belgium-parcel-tax-cuts-cheap-import-declarations/Wed, 28 Oct 2026 13:16:51 +0000Belgian customs say declarations for cheap non-EU parcels fell 65 percent from July to September 2026, mainly because of the 3 euro parcel tax, which has raised about 364.4 million euro.https://belgium-now.com/2026/10/28/diepenbeek-home-invasion-mother-children-injured/https://belgium-now.com/2026/10/28/diepenbeek-home-invasion-mother-children-injured/Wed, 28 Oct 2026 13:16:51 +0000Three unknown suspects broke into a home in Diepenbeek on Wednesday morning, injured a mother and her two children and stole jewellery. Police and prosecutors have launched a manhunt.https://belgium-now.com/2026/10/28/ghent-raises-fees-occupying-pavement-parking-2027/https://belgium-now.com/2026/10/28/ghent-raises-fees-occupying-pavement-parking-2027/Wed, 28 Oct 2026 13:16:51 +0000Ghent will make it simpler but more expensive to occupy pavement or parking spaces for renovations, deliveries and moves from 2027, drawing strong criticism from the opposition.https://belgium-now.com/2026/10/28/aalst-must-save-13-million-euros-five-years/https://belgium-now.com/2026/10/28/aalst-must-save-13-million-euros-five-years/Wed, 28 Oct 2026 12:58:33 +0000The Flemish government says Aalst must save almost 13 million euros over five years, but Mayor Christoph D'Haese says this will not lead to new layoffs in city services.https://belgium-now.com/2026/10/28/brussels-law-make-covid-terraces-permanent/https://belgium-now.com/2026/10/28/brussels-law-make-covid-terraces-permanent/Wed, 28 Oct 2026 12:58:33 +0000Brussels Urban Planning state secretary Audrey Henry is preparing legislation to keep seasonal horeca terraces up all year, and has asked municipalities not to dismantle them in the meantime.https://belgium-now.com/2026/10/28/brussels-mental-health-league-opposes-home-searches-bill/https://belgium-now.com/2026/10/28/brussels-mental-health-league-opposes-home-searches-bill/Wed, 28 Oct 2026 12:58:33 +0000The Brussels League for Mental Health, an umbrella of about fifty organisations, wants the federal parliament to withdraw a bill allowing home searches to arrest migrants with expulsion orders, ahead of a 5 November vote.https://belgium-now.com/2026/10/28/european-gas-price-nears-100-euros/https://belgium-now.com/2026/10/28/european-gas-price-nears-100-euros/Wed, 28 Oct 2026 12:58:33 +0000European gas prices rose above 100 euro per megawatt hour for the first time since 2022, while maximum diesel prices in Belgium reach a record 2.51 euro per litre from Thursday.https://belgium-now.com/2026/10/28/experts-warn-rising-nicotine-pouch-use-young-people/https://belgium-now.com/2026/10/28/experts-warn-rising-nicotine-pouch-use-young-people/Wed, 28 Oct 2026 12:58:33 +0000Experts are warning about the growing popularity of nicotine pouches among young people in Belgium, even though selling them is banned, according to research by VRT NWS Pano and Knack.https://belgium-now.com/2026/10/28/new-energy-discount-rules-gas-electricity-belgium/https://belgium-now.com/2026/10/28/new-energy-discount-rules-gas-electricity-belgium/Wed, 28 Oct 2026 12:58:33 +0000Wholesale gas reached 97 euros per megawatt-hour on Monday 26 October, and consumers in Flanders and Wallonia can still lock in fixed prices until at least 31 October, according to RTBF Info.https://belgium-now.com/2026/10/28/ulb-students-block-p1-building-classes-cancelled/https://belgium-now.com/2026/10/28/ulb-students-block-p1-building-classes-cancelled/Wed, 28 Oct 2026 12:42:48 +0000Students occupying building P1 at the ULB Solbosch campus have blocked classrooms for several days, and language courses face last-minute cancellations, with a return to the building this semester seen as very unlikely.https://belgium-now.com/2026/10/28/court-clears-six-cercle-de-droit-members-student-fall/https://belgium-now.com/2026/10/28/court-clears-six-cercle-de-droit-members-student-fall/Wed, 28 Oct 2026 12:19:53 +0000A Walloon Brabant court found no criminal conviction against six former Cercle de Droit members over a 2021 fall, citing the new Criminal Code, but recognised their civil fault.https://belgium-now.com/2026/10/28/craeybeckx-tunnel-antwerp-partial-closures-november/https://belgium-now.com/2026/10/28/craeybeckx-tunnel-antwerp-partial-closures-november/Wed, 28 Oct 2026 12:19:53 +0000The Craeybeckx tunnel in Antwerp will be partly closed on four nights in November for maintenance, each time between 21:00 and 06:00, according to Het Nieuwsblad and Gazet van Antwerpen.https://belgium-now.com/2026/10/28/lokeren-beekstraat-homes-sinking-landfill-gas-leak/https://belgium-now.com/2026/10/28/lokeren-beekstraat-homes-sinking-landfill-gas-leak/Wed, 28 Oct 2026 12:19:53 +0000Fluvius found a gas leak under a 70-year-old woman's home in Lokeren that has been losing natural gas since February, in a street where houses have sunk for years.https://belgium-now.com/2026/10/28/belgian-factories-machines-idle-industrial-slump/https://belgium-now.com/2026/10/28/belgian-factories-machines-idle-industrial-slump/Wed, 28 Oct 2026 12:18:18 +0000Capacity utilisation in Belgian manufacturing has dropped to 73.1%, the lowest since April 2020, raising fears of job losses as sector federations call for measures on high costs.https://belgium-now.com/2026/10/28/belgian-workers-higher-net-pay-1-november/https://belgium-now.com/2026/10/28/belgian-workers-higher-net-pay-1-november/Wed, 28 Oct 2026 12:18:18 +0000From 1 November 2026, lower withholding tax may raise net pay, Wallonia-Brussels changes infant vaccinations, Wallonia reforms burials and vehicles driven during a ban are confiscated.https://belgium-now.com/2026/10/28/council-of-state-advice-antwerp-deputy-beels-decree/https://belgium-now.com/2026/10/28/council-of-state-advice-antwerp-deputy-beels-decree/Wed, 28 Oct 2026 12:18:18 +0000The Council of State has found no fundamental objections to a Flemish decree enabling no-confidence motions in provincial councils, clearing the way for debate in the Flemish Parliament.https://belgium-now.com/2026/10/28/de-wever-calls-core-cabinet-budget-meeting/https://belgium-now.com/2026/10/28/de-wever-calls-core-cabinet-budget-meeting/Wed, 28 Oct 2026 12:18:18 +0000Prime Minister Bart De Wever has called the federal core cabinet together at around 19:00 on Wednesday 28 October to discuss the 2027 budget, with a deal not expected tonight.https://belgium-now.com/2026/10/28/diesel-record-price-belgium-2-51-euros/https://belgium-now.com/2026/10/28/diesel-record-price-belgium-2-51-euros/Wed, 28 Oct 2026 12:18:18 +0000The maximum pump price for diesel in Belgium rises to a record 2.51 euros per litre on Wednesday 28 October, while petrol falls below 2 euros.https://belgium-now.com/2026/10/28/verlinden-under-pressure-i-police-digitalisation-project/https://belgium-now.com/2026/10/28/verlinden-under-pressure-i-police-digitalisation-project/Wed, 28 Oct 2026 12:18:18 +0000Justice Minister Annelies Verlinden faces growing pressure after her spokesperson and a Brussels prosecutor's office spokesperson were charged with breaching professional secrecy in the i-Police case.