Belgium

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Pope Pressures Bishops to Quit Covering Up Abuse

After leaving Belgium, Francis sticks to stances on women's issues that drew criticism

(Newser) - Pope Francis wrapped up a troubled visit to Belgium on Sunday by doubling down on his traditional views on women and abortion and demanding that Catholic bishops stop covering up for predator priests—a scandal that has devastated the church's credibility around the globe. Francis revisited the thorny topics...

University Slams Pope's Views on Women's Roles During Visit

Confrontation follows Belgian leaders' criticism over clerical sexual abuse

(Newser) - Pope Francis' burdensome trip through Belgium reached new lows on Saturday when Catholic university women demanded to his face a "paradigm change" on women's issues in the church and then expressed deep disappointment when Francis dug in. The Catholic Louvain University, the Francophone campus of Belgium's storied Catholic...

Belgium's King, PM Had Strong Words for Pope

'When something goes wrong we cannot accept cover-ups,' PM says of sex abuse scandals

(Newser) - Belgium's prime minister blasted Pope Francis for the Catholic Church's horrific legacy of clerical sex abuse and cover-ups, demanding "concrete steps" to come clean with the past and put victims' interests ahead those of the institution in a blistering welcome at the start of Francis' visit on...

Belgium Steps Closer to Returning Colonial-Era Remains

Critics, however, say law draft didn't include input from countries of origin

(Newser) - More than 500 sets of human remains taken from ex-Belgian colonies are currently housed at the Institute of Natural Sciences in Brussels, including the skull of 19th-century Congolese leader Lusinga Iwa Ng'ombe, who was decapitated in a battle with Belgian troops in 1884. Now, draft legislation is vying to...

Angry Farmers Organize Very Smelly Protest

Cops in Belgium get sprayed with liquid manure amid protests over EU policies

(Newser) - Farmers clashed with Belgium police on Monday, spraying officers with liquid manure and setting fire to tire piles in a fresh show of force as European Union agriculture ministers met in search of ways to address their concerns. Brussels police said 900 tractors entered the city, many bearing down on...

Pilots Send Out an SOS: 'We Have a Horse in Difficulty'

Plane bound for Belgium forced to return to JFK after equine passenger gets loose in cargo hold

(Newser) - A flight from Belgium out of New York City took a wild turn last week after a horse managed to get out of its enclosure in the cargo hold, forcing the plane to turn back to the US. Jalopnik reports that Air Atlanta Icelandic Flight 4592 took off Thursday from...

Brussels Terror Suspect Dead, Should've Been Deported

45-year-old man, shot dead by police, was denied asylum in 2019

(Newser) - Police in Belgium on Tuesday shot dead a suspected Tunisian extremist accused of killing two Swedish soccer fans in a brazen shooting on a Brussels street before disappearing into the night, per the AP . Hours after a manhunt began in the Belgian capital, Interior Minister Annelies Verlinden posted on X,...

2 Swedes Killed in Suspected Terror Attack in Brussels

Gunman is still at large

(Newser) - Two Swedes were shot dead in central Brussels Monday in what authorities say is being investigated as a terror attack. The suspect is still at large and the Belgian capital has raised its terror alert to the highest level, the BBC reports. In a video posted on social media, a...

Schools Burn After Belgium Makes Sex Ed Mandatory

6 schools have been set on fire this week

(Newser) - A series of school arsons in Belgium believed to be connected to a controversial school program in some parts of the country is prompting authorities to strengthen their police response. Interior Minister Annelies Verlinden on Friday called for a halt to the attacks in the French-speaking Wallonia region hours after...

Scientists Uncover What's Left of the Battle of the Bulge

Groundbreaking survey reveals dugouts, bomb craters left from WWII's Battle of the Bulge

(Newser) - It was, as National Geographic describes it, "one of history's greatest battles." The last major German offensive of World War II, the Battle of the Bulge, fought from December 1944 to January 1945, saw more than 1 million Allied troops repel attacking Germans on a 500-square-mile battlefield...

This Is Quite the Demonstration
This Is Quite the Demonstration
Mar 3, 2023 12:17 PM CST

This Is Quite the Demonstration

Hundreds of angry farmers converge on Brussels' center, disrupt traffic, make their beef known

(Newser) - Hundreds of tractors driven by angry farmers protesting a plan to cut nitrate levels converged on Brussels Friday, creating major traffic disruption in Belgium's capital city. The BB farmers union and several others combined efforts to gather more than 2,700 farm vehicles, according to Brussels police. Several major...

Piece of Ancient Object Found, but Romans Left No Clues

Experts still are trying to learn the purpose of dodecahedrons

(Newser) - Experts are certain that an amateur archaeologist and his metal detector found a piece of a dodecahedron in northern Belgium, but no one is quite sure what that means. A dodecahedron is a 12-sided Roman object, and this one is probably more than 1,600 years old, Smithsonian Magazine reports....

Scientists Test Remains Kept in Attic for Battle of Waterloo Ties

Man turns bones over to Belgian archives

(Newser) - After Bernard Wilkin, of the State Archives of Belgium, spoke in the village of Waterloo in November about what became of the remains of troops killed in the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, a man approached him. "Dr. Wilkin," he said, "I have bones of these Prussians...

World Cup Upset Sparks Riots
Riots Follow World Cup Upset
Nov 27, 2022 3:40 PM CST

Riots Follow World Cup Upset

'Those are not fans, they are rioters,' Brussels mayor says

(Newser) - Riots broke out in several Belgian and Dutch cities after Morocco's 2-0 upset win over Belgium at the World Cup on Sunday. Police detained about a dozen people after they deployed water cannons and fire tear gas to disperse crowds in Brussels and eight more in the Northern city...

Belgium Has a Drug Problem. It's Not What You Think
Belgium Has
an Unusual
Drug Problem
Nov 22, 2022 4:34 PM CST

Belgium Has an Unusual Drug Problem

Authorities are seizing so much cocaine their incinerators can't handle the load

(Newser) - Authorities at Belgium's port of Antwerp have gotten so good at intercepting smuggled cocaine that it's led to an unexpected problem: Their incinerators can't burn it all fast enough. And as AFP explains, that has led to a related problem: There's so much seized cocaine lying...

At Famous Battle Site, an 'Incredibly Rare' Find

Complete skeleton of likely soldier found alongside horse bones near site of Waterloo

(Newser) - Finding human remains at the site of a famous battle isn't usually very surprising. But it is in the case of the Battle of Waterloo, which ended Napoleon's rule as emperor of France. Though up to 20,000 men died in the battle in modern-day Belgium on June...

Remains of Independence Hero Finally Return to Congo
A Hero's Tooth Is
Laid to Rest in Congo
UPDATED
Jun 30, 2022 1:57 PM CDT

A Hero's Tooth Is Laid to Rest in Congo

Independence hero Patrice Lumumba's body was dissolved in acid after 1961 murder

(Newser) - Update: Patrice Lumumba's gold-crowned tooth—all that remained of Congo's independence leader after his body was dissolved in acid more than 60 years ago—finished its tour of the country and was on Thursday entombed in the capital, Kinshasa. The BBC reports it is being kept in a...

Car Runs Into Carnival Crowd at High Speed, Killing 6

Belgian prosecutor sees no sign of terrorism after arrests

(Newser) - A car slammed at high speed into Carnival revelers in a small town in southern Belgium early Sunday, killing six people and leaving 10 more with life-threatening injuries, authorities said. Many others were slightly injured, the AP reports. "What should have been a great party turned into a tragedy,...

Museum Lifts Masterpiece Into Place
Art Museum
Again Unveils
Masterpiece
photos
Mar 16, 2022 5:09 PM CDT

Art Museum Again Unveils Masterpiece

Large Rubens was kept in former nuclear bomb shelter during Antwerp building's renovation

(Newser) - Moving a masterpiece is difficult, even more so when it measures 13.5 feet by 22.1 feet and weighs 1,225 pounds. Such is the size of the "Baptism of Christ," by Baroque painter Peter Paul Rubens (1605), the jewel in the crown of the Royal Museum...

Woman Narrowly Survives Push Onto Subway Tracks
After Subway Push, Driver
Stops With Inches to Spare
in case you missed it
Jan 23, 2022 4:55 PM CST

After Subway Push, Driver Stops With Inches to Spare

Suspect was seen pushing woman onto tracks at Brussels metro station

(Newser) - A day before a woman was shoved to her death at a subway station in New York, a woman in Belgium had a very narrow escape. Video from the Rogier metro station in Brussels Friday shows a young man pushing a woman onto the tracks moments before a train arrives....

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