~theguardian-world | Bookmarks (12)

Bruges court heard how defendant had condition called auto-brewery syndrome sometimes brought on by intestinal problemsA Belgian man has been acquitted of drunk-driving because he has auto-brewery syndrome (ABS), an extremely rare condition whereby the body produces alcohol, his lawyer has said.Anse Ghesquiere said on Monday that in “another unfortunate coincidence” her client worked at a brewery, but three doctors who independently examined him...

Belgian PM condemns move by local mayor to shut down radical rightwing conference as ‘unconstitutional’The NatCon conference featuring Nigel Farage, Suella Braverman and the Hungarian prime minister, Viktor Orbán, among its speakers will resume on Wednesday after a Brussels court overturned a local mayor’s decision to close it down on Tuesday.After moves condemned as “unacceptable” and “unconstitutional” by the Belgian prime minister, Alexander De...

Former home secretary will rub shoulders with populist right from across the globe, including Hungarian prime minister Viktor OrbánRishi Sunak is being urged to stop his former home secretary from attending a rightwing convention featuring figures who have been under investigation for extremism, in the latest sign of his waning control of his party.Suella Braverman, who has been a central plotter against the prime...

Questions surround ownership of demo tapes reportedly left by soul artist as a thank-you to his Ostend hostsA collection of cassette tapes containing a host of unreleased Marvin Gaye songs has been found in the Belgian city of Ostend.It has potentially lain hidden in Belgium for over 40 years, according to the BBC. Continue reading...

Campaigners say Ineos project in Antwerp will turbocharge plastic production on a scale not seen before in EuropeThe UK government is providing a €700m (£600m) guarantee for the billionaire Jim Ratcliffe to build the biggest petrochemical plant in Europe in 30 years that will turbocharge plastic production.The huge petrochemical plant has been described as a “carbon bomb” by campaigners. Being constructed in the Belgian...

Carla Dejonghe has persuaded her municipality to consider impact of its policies on single peopleFor much of the past decade Carla Dejonghe has worked to highlight the ways in which single people are often disadvantaged, whether through higher household expenses or the assumption that they are available to work evenings and weekends.However, in recent weeks the Belgian councillor has taken matters into her own...

Carved wooden figure at Venice Biennale aims to spark debate about colonial blindspots in the art worldA statue depicting the angry spirit of a Belgian officer beheaded during a 1930s uprising in the Congo will go on display at the Dutch pavilion of this year’s Venice Biennale, seeking to spark a debate about colonial blindspots in the art world – and the Belgian pavilion...

Demonstrations expected to continue in several countries as European parliament will hold exchange with stakeholdersThe Greek prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, is set to meet with two groups of farmers in Athens today to discuss protests and proposed relief measures, Kathimerini reports.Here are more photos from the farmers’ protest in Antwerp. Continue reading...

The latest protest comes less than a day after Ursula von der Leyen met with farming groups in a bid to appease themHundreds of tractors choked Brussels city centre on Thursday and angry farmers pelted the European parliament with eggs. Although agriculture was not on the agenda for EU leaders meeting just up the road, politicians may find that they ignore these grievances at...

French agriculture minister set to hold takes in Brussels as around 10,000 protesters turn outValérie Hayer, a French politician and president of the Renew Europe group in the European parliament, has spoken out about the impact of Brexit.“Four years ago, the United Kingdom left us,” she wrote, adding:Purchasing power, social security, global influence, border protection: nothing, absolutely nothing, has been a success. The populists...

Belgium already takes a cut from Netflix and Disney and new income will support local TV productionCute cat videos, fried chicken clips and viral dances could soon help to finance Belgian TV, with the Flanders government on the verge of passing laws to force TikTok and YouTube to share revenues with local television producers.“Politically speaking, it is important in audiovisual and media services that...

Alexander De Croo says democracy and liberty will be put to the test in Europe this year but EU should not be afraid of going it aloneSupport for Ukraine ‘existential’, De Croo saysIn his speech this morning, Belgium’s Alexander De Croo said Europe must continue supporting Kyiv.We achieved unity and solidarity in the face of the Russian war of aggression against an innocent Ukraine....