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With multi-platinum No 1 albums confronting edgy topics that other rappers shy away from, the Congolese-Belgian MC has carved his own lane with total determination‘The questions that I ask myself about death aren’t about dying, they’re about death in this life.” Damso doesn’t really do small talk. Engaging and magnetic even through a computer screen, the 28-year-old Congolese-Belgian rapper is sporting a flamboyant shirt...

German chancellor says infections may rise 10-fold by Easter if virus’s spread is not haltedCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageGermany’s tough anti-Covid measures are likely to last a further eight to 10 weeks, Angela Merkel has warned, while the Dutch prime minister, Mark Rutte, has extended the Netherlands’ national lockdown into next month.As Europe struggles to stem the number of cases and...

Twenty-six residents have died and 85 more have tested positive for coronavirus since visit in MolAt least 26 residents of a Belgian retirement home have died since a visit by a volunteer dressed as Saint Nicholas who has since tested positive for Covid-19.The deaths at the Hemelrijck home in Mol, near Antwerp, have prompted the local municipality to criticise the “completely irresponsible” organisers of...

France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, Ireland, Bulgaria impose UK bans over new strain; Democrat Chuck Schumer says aid bill ‘should’ have votes to passEuropean states ban travel from UK as new Covid strain takes holdEurope bans travel from the UK over new strain: what we know so farWhat do we know about the fast-spreading Covid variant in UK?Moderna vaccine shipments begin as US...

WHO tells members to redouble efforts to stop spread as Israel turns away UK passport holdersCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageEU ambassadors are to hold a crisis meeting in Brussels on Monday to discuss travel restrictions on the UK as multiple countries began closing their doors to travellers from Britain after the discovery of a fast-spreading strain of Covid-19.As the World Health...

Pharmaceutical companies complain of breach of confidentiality after amount EU has agreed to pay for leading vaccines goes publicCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageA Belgian minister has blown the lid off a sensitive and commercial secret – the price that the EU has agreed to pay for the leading Covid vaccines.Belgium’s budget state secretary, Eva De Bleeker, posted the price list on...

Experts say ‘incredible discovery’ is the earliest known version of the early 17th century artist’s Holy Family worksA painting that hung for decades in a municipal building in Brussels has been authenticated as the work of Flemish master Jacob Jordaens.After analysis including dendrochronology – dating works from the wood panels they are painted on – experts determined that it is the oldest known version...

Mosque’s application for special recognition is refused after advice from security servicesThe Belgian government has refused permission for the Grand Mosque in the EU quarter of Brussels to be recognised as a local faith community, claiming that the place of worship has been infiltrated by Moroccan spies.The decision to deny the application was made by the justice minister, Vincent Van Quickenborne, following advice from...

Gathering took place above a bar in Brussels, which is under a 10pm to 6am Covid lockdownCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageA group of 25 men, said to include an MEP who injured himself as he attempted to flee through a window, have been arrested by Belgian police for breaching the coronavirus lockdown after being discovered at a sex party above a...

People from Belgium and Philippines are also barred in ‘temporary measure taken in response to the pandemic’China has barred non-Chinese travellers from the UK, Belgium and the Philippines, imposing new border restrictions in response to the worsening Covid-19 pandemic.The Chinese embassy in the UK said on Wednesday that China’s borders were now closed to those arriving from the UK, including those with valid visas...

Royals begin ‘new chapter’ as Delphine Boel recognised after two-decade court battleThe long-running royal scandal that has riveted Belgium and damaged those involved reached a new milestone when the former king Albert II reunited with the daughter he fathered out of wedlock more than half a century ago.Albert II sat between his wife, Queen Paola, and the former Delphine Boel, who has been recognised...

Tree that has survived bombing and search for firewood is voted country’s tree of the yearA chestnut tree that survived both the bombardment of Ypres in the first world war and a desperate hunt for firewood during the second has been named Belgium’s tree of the year in recognition of its survival in the face of adversity.The tree, the sole survivor of a chestnut...

Frank Vandenbroucke says situation in parts of country is ‘most dangerous in all of Europe’Coronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageBelgium is losing control of the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic and is very close to being overwhelmed by a “tsunami” of infection, the country’s health minister has said.Frank Vandenbroucke, the federal minister, told the broadcaster RTL that Belgians needed to radically...

British king granted 50 Flemish fishermen ‘eternal rights’ to English fishing waters in 1666All is fair in love and cod war. And with the EU’s coastal states under pressure to give way on Britain’s demands for greater fishing catches in its waters post-Brexit, any old argument is worth a try.When the issue of the future access of European fishing fleets was being discussed by...

German capital tells bars to shut at 11pm, while fellow role model Belgium also tightens rulesCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageBerlin’s nightlife is facing a closing time for the first time in 70 years as the party-loving German capital seeks to contain spiralling coronavirus infection rates.From Saturday, bars, restaurants and off-licences will have to close their doors between 11pm and 6am as...

Following a revolution against rule from the Netherlands, a provisional government in Belgium declared its independence on 4 October 1830. See how the Guardian and Observer reported eventsAfter the Napoleonic Wars in 1815, Belgium became part of a single nation called the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, ruled by William of Orange. The traditionally Catholic Belgians in the southern provinces chafed with the largely...

Artist whose mother had affair with former king Albert II wins the right to use royal title and father’s surnameAn artist who successfully fought a seven-year legal battle to prove she was the daughter of the former king of Belgium, Albert II, has won the right to be recognised as a princess.The Brussels Court of Appeal has ruled that Delphine Boël, 52, had the...

Flemish Liberal Alexander De Croo sworn in as PM as country passes milestone of 10,000 Covid deathsCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageBelgium’s warring political parties have agreed to form a government nearly two years after the previous one collapsed, as the country passed the grim milestone of 10,000 deaths from coronavirus.The deal, only finalised in the early hours of Wednesday , ends...