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Matthieu DEMEESTERE AFP

In Belgium, prime minister's wife shares anorexia struggle

In Belgium, prime minister's wife shares anorexia struggle

Just weeks after her husband won Belgium's national elections in 2024, Veerle Hegge found herself in hospital for an eating disorder that almost claimed her life. Nearly two years later -- including six months of full-time treatment -- Prime Minister Bart De Wever's wife shared with AFP

Belgian prison tour lays bare grim reality of life behind bars

Belgian prison tour lays bare grim reality of life behind bars

As Belgium grapples with chronic prison overcrowding, a local charity in Brussels has found an immersive way to highlight the problem -- giving educational tours of a recently abandoned jail. Until it was officially shuttered in 2022, the dilapidated Forest prison housed inmates in cramped cells behind its red brick walls

Belgian bishop takes on Vatican with push to ordain married men

Belgian bishop takes on Vatican with push to ordain married men

A Belgian bishop is taking on the Vatican with a push to ordain married men as priests -- telling AFP the reform is key to stemming a plunge in vocations across many traditionally Catholic nations. Johan Bonny has officiated for 17 years in the port city of Antwerp, and in that

Belgium remembers Brussels jihadist attacks 10 years on

Belgium remembers Brussels jihadist attacks 10 years on

Belgium on Sunday marked 10 years since 2016 jihadist bombings in Brussels, a trauma that still scars the country and that authorities say sharpened focus on intelligence and counterterrorism. The March 22, 2016 attacks claimed by the Islamic State group left 32 people dead and more than 300 wounded -- Belgium&

Belgian court suspends TotalEnergies climate trial

Belgian court suspends TotalEnergies climate trial

A Belgian court Wednesday adjourned a case pitting TotalEnergies against a farmer seeking compensation for climate-change damage, pending the outcome of a separate trial against the French energy giant in Paris. Hugues Falys, a farmer from Belgium's western Hainaut region, is backed by environmental groups including Greenpeace

Post-it maker 3M on trial in Belgium over 'forever' chemicals

Post-it maker 3M on trial in Belgium over 'forever' chemicals

Belgians living near a 3M plant called for justice Tuesday at the opening of a trial against the US multinational maker of Post-it and Scotch tape over pollution from so-called forever chemicals. Hundreds of people are demanding almost 30 million euros ($35 million) in total in potential damages