Belgium's Wallooon region has voted to ban kosher and halal meats by outlawing the slaughter of unstunned animals. The environment committee of southern Belgium's Walloon Parliament voted unanimously for the ban, which will take effect on 1 September, 2019. Both Jewish kosher and Islamic halal rituals require the butcher to swiftly slaughter the animal by slitting its throat and draining its blood, a process condemned by animal rights campaigners, who argue it is more humane to stun animals before killing them.

Belgium’s vote in favor of appointing Saudi Arabia to a United Nations women’s rights commission was due to a regrettable diplomatic mix-up, said Prime Minister Charles Michel, after the decision sparked a firestorm of criticism at home. “If we could do it again and if we would have the chance to discuss it at government level, I of course would have argued that we not approve this,” Michel told parliament on Thursday.

How one instrument went from being the backbone of American popular music to being a punchline in a joke about the ’80s. There’s no song in the Top 40 right now with a saxophone solo, there’s hardly a defined saxophone part on any of those songs at all.

A fountain of jazz-playing animals, an angel with a gas mask and an entire family of peeing sculptures – Belgium has no shortage of strange statues.

Belgian police raised security in the port of Antwerp after a car laden with weapons sped through a busy shopping street, forcing pedestrians to jump out of the way.  The federal prosecutor's office said the car, with French license plates, ran a red light on Thursday morning before being intercepted by police at the port docks. The bomb squad was brought in and security was increased in the centre of the town in places where people normally congregate.  A French national was arrested. 

Videoclip from Belgian punk rock band (1981)

At least one person has been killed and about 20 injured when a train carriage fell on to its side following a derailment close to the Belgian capital Brussels, railway officials say. The accident happened as the train was departing Leuven station at a slow speed heading towards the capital. Emergency services were quick to arrive at the scene of the crash, which happened at 12:20 GMT on Saturday.

A passenger train has derailed in Belgium leaving a large number of people injured. The train was left on its side trapped down an embankment after the incident near Leuven. Emergency service officials say one person died and 20 people were left injured. Local media report the train was on its way to De Panne and had just left the station in Leuven. Pictures from the scene show the train derailed and a wagon lying beside the track.

Belgian police have detained three people in a series of anti-terror raids in the Brussels suburb of Molenbeek, where some of the Paris and Brussels attackers lived or transited. Spokeswoman for the Brussels prosecutor's office Ine Van Wymersch said Saturday that four searches were conducted. Van Wymersch said "the action has ended. Nothing was found, no weapons, no explosives."

Holland has become the latest European country to consider banning the burqa following on from Belgium and France. If it comes into force, Muslim women would be outlawed from wearing the veils in places such as schools, hospitals and on public transport. Only a few hundred Muslim women in the Netherlands wear concealing niqabs or full-face burqas, but successive governments have still sought to ban the garments.

A court in Brussels has made what looks like a landmark decision against the prosecution of Kurdish officials and associations on terrorism charges.

A Belgian shopping centre was evacuated amid reports that three masked men had fired Kalashnikovs in a jeweller. Panicked shoppers were evacuated from the Cora shopping centre in Chatelineau, which is about 35 miles south of Brussels. Police Commissioner Eric De Brabander told news agency Belga: 'Two explosions were heard by witnesses, but the information could not be confirmed.'

This church in Borgloon, Belgium. It doesn't look like anything special, it consists of 100 layers of stacked steel, that are equidistantly staggered in a way that illusively change in appearance based on where the viewer is standing.

When she regained consciousness, Nidhi Chaphekar was lying on the floor of Zaventem airport in Brussels, across the room from the bird-shaped statue she had been standing near a few moments before. She tried to open her eyes, but her body wasn’t doing what she wanted it to. Around her was a haze of thick black smoke, which was making her light-headed. She could hear her own internal voice, saying: “Nidhi, you’re alive. Nidhi, it was a bomb. Nidhi, you have to tell your family. The children have exams. Nidhi, come on, get up.”

Bomb alerts have been reported on two passenger jets due to arrive at Brussels airport. The alerts were reportedly radioed in from the aircraft to air traffic control. 

Two female officers were injured after being attacked by a machete-wielding man near the police station in the Belgian city of Charleroi, the authorities said. The perpetrator, who could be heard shouting “Allahu Akbar," was shot by a third officer on site, the RTL radio station claims, citing local police. The attacker was taken to hospital in a critical condition, but later died of his injuries, RTBF reported.