Belgium

Electrabel - the Belgian subsidiary of French utility Engie - says it will not make any further investments at Doel unit 4 and Tihange unit 3 unless it is clearer whether the reactors will or will not be allowed to operate beyond 2025. A report due out at the end of next year may lead to the reactors being allowed to continue operating to ensure Belgium's energy security.Read Full Story Energy SecurityBelgiumFranceNuclear PowerEnergy PolicyEnergy PricesElectricity SupplyBelgianTihange 2Tihange 3The Council Of MinistersFlemishWorld Nuclear NewsElectrabel StaffFrench Utility EngieAlexander De Croo

BRUSSELS (AP) — Bars and restaurants across Belgium shut down for a month and a night-time curfew took effect Monday as health authorities warned of a possible “tsunami” of new virus cases in the hard-hit nation that host the headquarters of the European Union.The new measures aim to limit social interactions to slow down the exponential growth of the pandemic in the nation of 11.5 million people. The new surge of coronavirus cases has already prompted several hospitals to delay nonessential operations to focus on treating COVID-19 cases.“We are really very close to a tsunami,” Health Minister Frank Vandenbroucke told broadcaster RTL. According to AP figures based on data collected by Johns Hopkins University, Belgium recorded an average of 73.95 daily cases per 100,000 people over the past seven days, the second-worst record in the EU behind the Czech Republic.Yves Van Laethem, the COVID-19 crisis center spokesman, said Monday that 7,876 daily new cases were diagnosed on average over the past seven days, up 79% compared with the previous week. Van Laethem said the country’s true epidemiological situation could be even worse, given current delays in the publication of test results. To fight the spread of the disease, Belgium’s curfew will be enforced from midnight until 5 a.m., at least for a month. Alcohol sales will be banned after 8 p.m., while the number of people that residents can see socially outside their households will be reduced from three to just one.People have been ordered to work from home wherever possible. Thousands of students have been affected as several universities have decided that only one seat in five in lecture halls hosting more than 50 people can be occupied.As of Monday, 2,485 COVID-19 patients were hospitalized in Belgium, including 412 in intensive care. Authorities have warned that intensive care units will hit their capacity of 2,000 beds by mid-November if new cases continue to soar at the same pace. Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said the situation in Belgium now is more serious than it was in March, when the country implemented a national lockdown.“We have three times as many people in intensive care in hospitals. So the situation in the hospitals is serious. It will continue to deteriorate,” De Croo told RTL.With the extra restrictions, many restaurant and bar owners fear they might have to pull the plug for good. The sector contains more than 57,000 businesses and employs 120,000 people in Belgium.Henrique Martins, the chef at the Gout et Saveur restaurant in Brussels, says he will rely on state subsidies and takeout sales to survive.“It’s pretty catastrophic. We’ll see and try to hold on,” he told The Associated Press on Monday. ___Follow AP pandemic coverage at http://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak___Mark Carlsson in Brussels contributed.Coronavirus Disease 2019BelgiumVirusEuropean UnionCOVID-19 PandemicCurfewTsunamiSocial RelationAssociated PressCzech RepublicBrusselsCrisisHealth AuthoritiesEUGout Et SaveurHenrique MartinsAlexander De Croo

On Thursday in London, the three-time Wimbledon champion pleaded not guilty to 19 charges of concealing his financial holdings. Tennis star Boris Becker is facing the toughest match of his life. On Thursday, the three-ti

Spanish police have arrested 21 people including key supporters of the former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont on suspicion of using public money to finance a failed push for independence and fund Puigdemont’s self-imposed exile in Belgium. In a series of raids carried out by hundreds of civil guard police in...Read Full Story  CataloniaGovernment SpendingArrestIndependenceSeparatismBarcelonaBelgiumSpanish PolicePolice RaidsRussian OfficialsSpainPolice ViolenceTerra LliureCitizensVíctor TerradellasVladimir PutinCarles PuigdemontOriol JunquerasXavier VendrellRoger Torrent

Amateur codebreakers have solved a decades long mystery. The FBI confirmed Friday that a group of private citizens deciphered a coded note from the Zodiac Killer, the 1960s serial killer who preyed on his victims in Northern California and has never been caught. 'The FBI is aware that a cipher...Read Full Story Serial KillerCipherCBS San FranciscoFBI SanFranciscoAmateur CodebreakersInvestigatorsParadisePicLaw EnforcementAustraliaBelgiumMessageFunNorthern CaliforniaZodiac Killer

The first sign that something was wrong at the lone school in the tiny Belgian hamlet of Sibret was when a teacher began to feel sick not long after classes resumed this month. She tested positive for covid-19. Within da

A former European Parliament lawmaker from Hungary resigned from his country’s ruling party Wednesday after being swept up in a scandal involving what media reports called an orgy that police in Brussels broke up last week amid Belgium’s covornavirus lockdown. Jozsef Szajer, who on Sunday resigned his seat in the...Read Full Story BelgiumHungaryViktor OrbanPeruPolitical PartyConservative PartyLiberal PartyHungarianThe European Union 'sFidesz PartyThe Brussels PartyThe European ParliamentThe Associated PressS.J.LGBTZsolt Borkai

London (CNN) — A growing number European countries on Sunday halted flights from the UK in the wake of the discovery of a new variant of Covid-19, said by officials to spread faster than other strains. The new strain of coronavirus, which prompted the UK government to impose a Tier...Read Full StoryNetherlandsBelgiumScotlandCoronavirusEurostarEuropean CountriesPassenger TrainsCNNDutchBelgianVRTTransmissableTwitterUK &LondonersMatt HancockAlexander De CrooLuigi Di MaioBoris JohnsonChris WhittyJeremy FarrarKeir StarmerSadiq Khan

In Bethlehem, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa, arrived to attend Christmas celebrations -- walking alongside a man dressed as Father Christmas, or Santa Claus /AFP Coronavirus misery hung over Christmas preparations worldwide on Thursday, with countless millions forced to cancel plans or limit festivities under fresh virus lockdowns. After a grinding pandemic year that has seen more than 1.7 million people die from Covid-19, a slew of new outbreaks are a stark reminder that despite emergency vaccine roll-outs, life is unlikely to return to normal quickly. Bethlehem, where Christians believe Jesus was born, was preparing for a Christmas unlike any in its recent history. The Christmas Eve mass at the Church of the Nativity is traditionally the highlight of a holiday season that sees hundreds of thousands of visitors flock to the Palestinian city in the occupied West Bank. The mass will be closed to the public this year and broadcast online, with only clergy and select individuals allowed inside the basilica, which was sterilised earlier Thursday ahead of the service. A procession of bagpipers and drummers marched towards Manger Square, watched by a mostly-masked Palestinian crowd that lined the streets under grey skies and a smattering of rain. "Despite the fear, the frustration of Covid, we will overcome because Jesus is born in Bethlehem," said the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Pierbattista Pizzaballa, during the procession. A Palestinian band parades in front of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem on December 24 /AFP Attendee Jania Shaheen, who was with her two small children and husband in the square, said the holiday was "different this year, because we can't pray at the Nativity Church". "We can't gather as a family, everybody is afraid... It is good to see some people here today but there is no one compared to last year. It is only for the people of Bethlehem," she told AFP. Elsewhere in the region, Kuwait on Thursday joined other Gulf nations in rolling out a mass coronavirus vaccination programme, while across the Atlantic, Mexico started administering jabs to frontline medical workers. - 'Sour year' - A worker sterilises the courtyard of the Church of the Nativity ahead of Christmas celebrations in Bethlehem on December 24 /AFP In Australia -- often a rare bright spot in keeping the virus in check -- a growing cluster of cases in northern Sydney has confined residents to seaside suburbs and prompted a ban on all but the smallest Christmas family gatherings. Jimmy Arslan, who owns two cafes at the epicentre of the city's outbreak, said trade was down 75 percent and his Canberra-based family had been forced to cancel their Christmas visit. "It's heartbreaking. It's a very, very sour ending for a sour year," the 46-year-old told AFP. "Let's just say we all should welcome 2021 and kick 2020 in its arse." In Germany's capital Berlin, a worshipper lights a candle in St Mary's church ahead of an outdoor mass on Christmas Eve /AFP In Europe, much of the continent is enduring a dark winter of resurgent outbreaks. Germany has been forced to cancel its famous Christmas markets and Pope Francis plans to bring the Vatican's Christmas midnight mass forward by two hours to meet Italy's curfew rules. In Christmas Eve messages, the Pope expressed his desire to visit crisis-hit Lebanon and urged political leaders in South Sudan to continue working for peace. - Holiday isolation - In West Africa, in Ivory Coast's capital Abidjan, a woman in a market dressed in a Christmas hat readied for celebrations /AFP For many, the isolation that has defined the past year will continue into Christmas Day and beyond -- such as in Belgium, where residents are largely limited to welcoming a single visitor. In the Catholic-majority Philippines, some are choosing to spend the holidays alone because of the risk of catching the virus on public transport, as well as quarantine rules making travelling time-consuming and expensive. "I am ordering food in, re-watching old movies, and catching up with my family by video," said Kim Patria, 31, who lives alone in Manila. Britons, meanwhile, were cut off from swathes of the world, due to the emergence of a new Covid-19 strain. Some UK border restrictions have been temporarily relaxed for the holidays, but thousands from other European countries are still stranded in England. A man in the Indian city of Bangalore decorates a display of baby Jesus at St Mary’s Basilica on December 24 /AFP "Home for Christmas? Forget it," said Laurent Beghin, a French truck driver who delivered his cargo but was still stuck days later. In the United States, more than one million people have now been vaccinated, but the country's coronavirus response remained chaotic as Donald Trump helicoptered off the White House lawn for one of the last times in his presidency. The Republican and his wife Melania were bound for a vacation at his glitzy Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, after his shock rejection of a massive coronavirus relief package passed by Congress. New Year's celebrations are looking downbeat globally, with lockdowns looming for Scotland, Northern Ireland and Austria through the post-Christmas period, while Portugal has imposed a New Year's Eve curfew. For now, Sydney still plans to ring in 2021 with its famous Harbour Bridge fireworks display, with New South Wales state Premier Gladys Berejiklian pledging the seven-minute spectacle will go ahead "no matter what". But as with most of 2020, people are being encouraged to watch on television from their sofas. PhilippinesIvory CoastPortugalBelgiumPoliticsChristmas DayFather ChristmasHoliday SeasonMidnight MassLatinSanta ClausBethlehemChristiansPalestinianThe Nativity Church ''Pierbattista PizzaballaJesusPope FrancisDonald TrumpGladys Berejiklian

Last month, Health Secretary Matt Hancock pointed to Belgium as an example of a country that had managed to use restrictions on socialising to keep a lid on Covid. Now it has one of the highest case rates in the world. The label on Steenbrugge Abbey beers has a picture...Read Full Story BelgiumCoronavirus Disease 2019BrugesGuiding LightSocializationBritainTourismPeruBrewingSt ArnoldFrank VandenbrouckeGeert DeclerckPeter SlosseLiègeMaison AmodioMatt HancockAlexander De Croo