He ran “for fun,” filmed every step, and turned controversy into content. Now, from the back row of Brussels, Panayiotou is rewriting what it means to be an MEP in the age of the algorithm.
country: Belgium
Stay updated with comprehensive news on Belgium from Worldcrunch. Discover insights on Belgian politics, economic strategies, societal issues, and cultural landmarks with translations from top international sources. Highlights include Brussels, Belgian history, and cultural events.
November 9 marks 35 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall. Once seen as a step toward open borders, walls and fences now span a quarter of the world’s land borders today. It’s central to what’s being called the “rebordering” among nations around the world.
Copenhagen is a great example of the positive impacts of pedestrianization: it provides €400,000 in profit for every kilometer of bike lane, and helps to decrease the deadly effects of air pollution.
The EU and NATO have vowed to expand cooperation, which may mean a major long-term shift in European defense strategy. Still, the French know that the reality on the ground means that European defense effectively still means NATO.
According to the EU Commission, the amount of confiscated Russian assets has doubled since April, German daily Die Welt reveals, including yachts, real estate, artwork and more.
Male contraception, both pharmaceuticals and procedures, is gaining increasing interest. Yet to date, there is no male contraceptive drug authorized on the market.
When it comes to food, the fears linked to globalization must be put into perspective. They must also be weighed against the negative effects that Belgian protectionism could have on our economy.
“Preheat oven to 250 °C, add three teaspoons of salt into water, rinse and peel the asparagus and wait 30 minutes before cooking…” If you are craving asparagus au gratin after reading these lines, you can find the rest of the recipe online, on any number of cooking websites … Or, until a few days […]
A road sign for a ‘detour’ gets lost in translation.
Belgium’s vaccination campaign is a prime example, computer scientist Hugues Bersini argues, of how technology can not only improve efficiency, but also, in some cases, make things more fair.
The concept of smart cities is a kind of received wisdom among planners and technologists, but our digital world of today is not sustainable.
In addition to coronavirus-related deaths, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) recorded 42 murders of journalists and media workers since the beginning of 2020 in targeted attacks, bombings and shootings.
Authorities in Belgium say that regardless of how Brexit negotiations unfold, fishers from Bruges have ‘royal privilege’ to continue operating in British waters.
The pandemic closed classrooms and pushed the education process online. It was a desperate measure for desperate times that avoided the worst, but shouldn’t be the norm.
Coronavirus travel restrictions have been a wake-up call for Europeans, especially since nearly a third of the population lives in cross-border areas like France and Belgium’s Eurometropolis Lillle-Kortrijk-Tournai.
Anti-racism and anti-colonial protests sparked by the police killing of George Floyd raise new questions about how societies fill their public spaces.
The EU introduced its ‘Blue Card’ system to facilitate the arrival of qualified, non-European professionals. But only one country — Germany — really takes advantage of it.
‘Italy is our starting point, and Salvini the model,’ says this Belgian politician bringing the populists of Europe under one roof with the help of Donald Trump’s former right-hand man.
The EU Commission is taking a tough stance on tax evasion, as shown with the 13 billion euro bill leveled at Apple.
A troubling tale of how the European Commision stalled the regulation of potentially cancer causing chemicals
Many locals are trying to maintain a so-called “belgitude” after last week’s deadly terror. But the city’s vulnerability is on full display.
PARIS — Jihadism in Europe seems to always be one step ahead of European security services, which despite enhanced cooperation remain fundamentally national operations. Paradoxically, terrorism is unifying Europe with a sense of common identity in the face of the attacks in Paris and Brussels, which seem as if they could have just as well […]
The Brussels attacks are a reap-what-you-sow moment for Europe, after biding its time and coddling its dangerous allies for too long.
MEXICO CITY — Should we grieve? How should we react to calamities, death and pain? I mean other people’s pain, because your own pain is your business, and you can handle it as you please. But to others struck by life’s arbitrary monstrousness, it seems we owe what we might call a “decent” amount of […]
In Brussels, the jihadists have again shown they have a plan, which extends from the Middle East to the heart of Europe. The West must urgently get one of its own.
-Editorial- PARIS — This time, it’s Brussels, the heart of Europe, that was hit by Islamist terrorists. They targeted this free city, where humor, impertinence, a Belgian way of not taking yourself too seriously, is the opposite of what these barbarians have in mind: cheap certainties, hatred towards others, the violence of the “pure.” The […]
Coming four months after the Nov. 13 attacks in Paris, the series of explosions Tuesday in Brussels show that terrorist networks in Europe are one step ahead of authorities, who struggle with the Schengen border loopholes and collaboration between nationa
Even as Belgium has emerged as a hub of Islamic terror networks, a Belgian Muslim is the theatrical toast of the town as he tackles jihad, racism and culture wars with humor.
Yassine S. presented himself in Brussels as a Harvard-educated psychologist. Business was booming until his “mental manipulations” caught the attention of colleagues.
BRUSSELS — Moved by the dramatic situation of the Christian population in Aleppo, Syria’s largest city, a group of Belgian activists, with support from the government, orchestrated a remarkable rescue operation to save nearly 250 Syrian Christians. In Aleppo, the Christians were under continuous assault by ISIS, the al-Qaeda-aligned al-Nusra front and the Assad regime. […]
Greece native Ioannis Ikonomou learned English at age five, German at seven and Italian at barely 10. He hasn’t stopped since, and is currently mastering Albanian.
BRUSSELS — The Ukraine crisis and Russia’s aggressive behavior have hit NATO right between the eyes. Utterly caught off guard, the defense alliance has begun asking itself how it must react, both in the short-term actions, as well as bigger questions about NATO’s role for the future. The pressure to be decisive has a firm […]
BERLIN — When the European parliament meets, each delegate gets a 304-euro daily stipend for participating. In Germany, this is unheard of in both federal and state parliaments. And Green delegate Sven Giegold believes that the European Parliament should dispense with the payments. “A per diem of 304 euros is absurd,” the German delegate says. […]
GHENT — When the Volvo factory in the Belgian city of Ghent hosted China President Xi Jinping last week, along with the Belgian king and queen, the facility was covered in red Chinese knotting, a decorative Chinese folk art. It was a festive touch meant both to welcome the Chinese leader and to celebrate the […]
PARIS – Between 2004 and 2005, Zheyun Ye knocked on the door of almost every professional soccer club in Belgium. By introducing himself as a timely investor, this Chinese expat managed to convince the board of the penniless Lierse SK club to accept a check worth 370,000 euros ($500,000). Except that Zheyun Ye was not […]
The European Union has plenty to fear from the revelations of Edward Snowden, but may be caught between the costs and benefits of America’s vast network of data collection.
Authorities worry for the safety of the mostly young sign-ups, but also the risk that they return home radicalized — and set on striking targets in Europe.
Women are just sex objects! Making a classic male sexist comment like that has long been taboo in Western societies. Yet two studies, one Belgian, the other American, actually go a long way in proving that women really are perceived that way. A team working with psychologist Philippe Bernard at the Université Libre in Brussels […]