Latest news with #Belga
Ya Biladi
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Ya Biladi
Belgium's Muslim Council seeks permanent recognition
The Muslim Council of Belgium (CMB) has formally requested permanent recognition from the federal Minister of Justice, Annelies Verlinden (CD&V), following a two-year temporary approval set to expire next June. The council was established in 2023 after former Minister of Justice Vincent Van Quickenborne (Open Vld) ended the recognition of the Executive of Muslims of Belgium (EMB) via royal decree on September 29, 2022. According to the press agency Belga, a letter from CMB president Esma Uçan to the current minister mentions a «renewal process» initiated since 2023. The letter also states that a new general assembly of 45 members has been formed and confirms that, with Uçan not standing in the upcoming elections, a vote will be held on May 31 to appoint a new board of directors. Uçan's decision not to run appears to be just the surface of deeper internal tensions within the young CMB. Although intended to be representative, the council's composition has already sparked controversy, notably concerning the inclusion of the Diyanet and Milli Görüs networks. These two groups, which oversee dozens of mosques, will abstain from the upcoming elections, leaving their seats vacant. While Esma Uçan describes this as a «voluntary abstention», both networks—closely tied to Turkish religious circles—have faced criticism for alleged «foreign interference» and «conservative positions», according to Belga. In 2024, the French-speaking business court of Brussels ordered the immediate dissolution of the EMB College. The EMB subsequently filed appeals against the 2022 and 2023 royal decrees granting recognition to the CMB, but these appeals were dismissed by the Council of State.
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Yahoo
Belgium's Charleroi airport resumes operations after bomb alert
Flights can take off and land again at Belgium's second largest airport after a bomb alert on an incoming flight from Portugal brought operations to a standstill on Tuesday. "A security perimeter was set up around the aircraft, necessitating the closure of the runway and therefore the interruption of operations," Charleroi airport wrote in a statement. Authorities evacuated the 166 passengers on board, news agency Belga reported. The police or the prosecutor's office have not yet commented on the developments. Incoming flights were redirected to other airports close by, including to Brussels and the French city of Lille.
AsiaOne
26-04-2025
- Business
- AsiaOne
Belgian airports cancel flights on Tuesday as strike looms, World News
BRUSSELS — Brussels Airport, Belgium's main international flight hub, will cancel several flights on Tuesday (April 29), while Charleroi Airport plans to suspend all departures the same day due to a nationwide strike over the new government's austerity policies. Brussels Airport said in a statement that some of its baggage and security service providers were due to participate in the industrial action. While it did not specify how many flights would be cancelled, Belga news agency reported that at least 30 per cent of departures were to be axed and that disruption to incoming flights was also possible. Charleroi Airport said in a statement that a staff shortage expected on Tuesday would make it impossible to ensure safe operations for departing flights. It added that incoming flights would continue as scheduled. Belgian unions are organising another nationwide strike against the new government's policies including pension reforms. The planned pension reform rewards those who work past retirement age with 35 years of service, while early retirees without 35 years of work behind them face a penalty. The new system would be less favourable for lower-income earners compared with the previous one, which provided a lump sum based on career length. Flemish nationalist Bart De Wever's government was sworn in on Feb 3 after eight months of negotiations that resulted in a five-party coalition including conservatives, centrists, and socialists. ALSO READ: Heathrow Airport orders probe into shutdown as travellers endure days of disruption
Yahoo
23-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Pogacar returns to winning ways with Fleche Wallone triumph
Slovenian cyclist Tadej Pogacar of UAE Team Emirates celebrates winning the men's race of the 'La Fleche Wallonne', 205,2 km one day cycling race from Ciney to Huy. Jasper Jacobs/Belga/dpa World champion Tadej Pogacar returned to winning ways on Wednesday when he won the Fleche Wallone classic cycling race for the second time in his career. Slovenia's Pogacar attacked at the steepest part of the infamous 1.3 klilometres Wall of Huy climb as he won after 205.1km in Belgium from Frenchman Kevin Vauquelin and British twice Olympic mountainbike champion Tom Pidcock. Advertisement The 2024 Giro d'Italia and Tour de France champion Pogacar won the Tour of Flanders this season but also had to settle for second in the Amstel Gold Race and Paris-Roubaix. Sunday's Amstel Gold Race winner Mattias Skjelmose of Denmark fell some 40 kilometres before the finish and abandoned the race. Pogacar's first Fleche Wallone win was in 2023, and he will now set his sights on Sunday's Liege-Bastogne-Liege race, the oldest of the five most prestigious cycling Monuments he previously won in 2021 and 2024.
Yahoo
16-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Duma Boko
Credit - Jonas Roosens—Belga/Reuters Few predicted the seismic election upset that made Duma Boko President of Botswana. Last October, the 55-year-old Harvard-trained lawyer ousted the party that had ruled the nation of 2.5 million people since its independence from Britain nearly 60 years ago. But in hindsight, the outcome seems almost inevitable. In a democratic, stable country with vast diamond reserves and the world's largest population of elephants, voters were increasingly frustrated over political corruption, and the huge influence of multinational giant De Beers, whose diamond trading accounts for more than 80% of Botswana's foreign exports. World diamond prices have been plummeting, as lower-cost lab-grown stones flooded the market. Despite his impressive victory at the polls, Boko has no easy way to reverse the decline and fulfill his campaign promises, which include doubling the minimum wage, expanding social benefits for new mothers and seniors, and creating thousands of new jobs. He says he is eyeing cannabis and solar-power industries as two paths to better times. Whatever the recourse, he told the country bluntly: 'We can no longer afford to depend on a single commodity.' Even in Botswana, diamonds might not be forever. Walt is a TIME correspondent in Paris Contact us at letters@
