Trade unions and thousands of disgruntled workers are demonstrating in the Belgian capital to protest the threat of massive layoffs in a state-of-the-art Brussels car factory and other key industries.

Belgian police have shut down a gathering of far-right politicians and supporters, citing concerns about public order.

Some Bellgium soccer players in the European Championship this summer could resemble a world famous reporter.

The U.S. has imposed sanctions on a Belgian involved in procuring electronics for the Russian military, his companies and a group of Belarusian firms and people tied to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Belgium’s justice minister has resigned after it was discovered that Tunisia was seeking the extradition last year of an Islamic extremist who shot dead two Swedes and wounded a third this week.

Belgium's federal prosecutor's office says an EU lawmaker linked to a corruption scandal that rocked the bloc’s Parliament in December has been detained for questioning as police conduct further raids.

The European Parliament has removed the protective immunity of two lawmakers linked to one of the EU’s biggest corruption scandals.

The president of the European Parliament has launched an urgent procedure for the waiver of immunity of two lawmakers following a request from the Belgian judicial authorities investigating a major corruption scandal rocking EU politics.

Judicial officials have told The Associated Press that a Greek European lawmaker charged with corruption in an alleged plot tarnishing EU institutions will remain in detention until at least Dec. 22 after her hearing by a judge was postponed.

The European Union’s top official has called for the creation of an independent ethics body covering all of the bloc’s institutions and said corruption allegations involving a vice president of the EU legislature were of “utmost concern.”.

Belgian authorities say that a lone assailant who killed one police officer and wounded another in a stabbing attack had been on a counterterrorism list of potential extremists.

One Beligan police officer is dead and another wounded in a stabbing attack in Brusse;s that two judicial officials say is suspected to be terrorism-linked.

Thousands have gathered in Belgium to protest against skyrocketing electricity, natural gas and food prices.

A Belgian-British teenager has become the youngest person to fly around the world solo in a small aircraft.

A Belgian-British teenage pilot is set to become the youngest person to fly around the world solo in a small plane.

One of Pope Francis’ proposed new cardinals has bowed out of accepting the honor because of his record dealing with cases of clergy sexual abuse.

Belgian authorities have allowed for the reopening of cinemas, theaters and concert halls.

Belgian artists and event organizers have joined together to protest the government’s decision to close down most concerts, cinemas and theaters to stem the spread of the surging omicron variant.

Thousands of peaceful protesters have demonstrated in Brussels for a third time against reinforced COVID-19 restrictions imposed by the Belgian government to counter a spike in infections as the omicron variant sweeps across Europe.

Israel’s deputy foreign minister has canceled meetings with Belgian officials after a decision by Brussels to begin labeling products made in Jewish West Bank settlements.

Five biracial women who were born in Congo and taken away from their Black mothers as young girls when the country was under Belgian colonial rule are suing the Belgian state for crimes against humanity.

The European Union aims to combat growing antisemitism with new plans to tackle hate speech, raise awareness about Jewish life and protect places of worship.

A Belgian-British teenager has started the first leg of her quest to become the youngest woman to fly around the world solo.

1-1 after 60 minutes, Belgium won 3-2 in the shootout to claim gold four years after taking silver in Rio.

Belgian police say the body of a fugitive far-right soldier who was the target of a huge manhunt appears to have been found.

Hundreds of specialized forces are still hunting for a heavily armed Belgian soldier who is on a federal anti-terror watch list and was seen early this week near the home of a person he had threatened.

Belgian police have clashed with a large crowd in one of Brussels’ biggest parks.

FILE - In this Saturday, May 8, 2010 file photo, from left, Liege Bishop Aloysius Jousten, Brussels Archbishop Andre Leonard, Tournai Bishop Guy Harpigny and Antwerp Bishop Johan Bonny attend a press conference at the Vatican. Belgian bishop Johan Bonny, in an opinion piece, has lashed out at the Vatican over its decree that the Catholic Church won't bless same-sex unions. The Congregation's note distinguished between blessing same-sex unions and the church’s welcoming and blessing of gay people, which it endorsed. It argued that such unions were not part of God’s plan and that any sacramental recognition of them could be confused with marriage. AdThe orthodoxy office's document argued that same-sex unions can't be blessed by the Catholic Church because they are not part of that plan.

(AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)BRUSSELS – A Belgian court handed a one-year suspended prison sentence to a police officer on Friday over the shooting death of a two-year-old toddler who was in a van during a high-speed chase of suspected migrant smugglers. According to local media, the van’s driver was sentenced to four years in prison while another alleged smuggler was acquitted. Police shot at the van during the chase, striking two-year-old Kurd Mawda Shawri in the head. AdThe police officer said he fired his weapon after the van swerved in the direction of the police car. Mawda’s death has become a symbol for many Belgians of the injustice that confronts migrants and refugees fleeing their homelands to seek a better life in Europe.

An Iranian official on Thursday was convicted of masterminding a thwarted bomb attack against an exiled Iranian opposition group in France in 2018 and sentenced to 20 years in prison by a Belgian court that rejected his claim of diplomatic immunity. Assadollah Assadi, a Vienna-based diplomat detained in Belgium, refused to testify during his trial last year, invoking his diplomatic status. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)ANTWERP – An Iranian diplomat identified as an undercover secret agent was convicted Thursday in Belgium of masterminding a thwarted bomb attack against an exiled Iranian opposition group in France and sentenced to 20 years in prison, a legal outcome that infuriated Tehran. AdDuring the trial, lawyers for the plaintiffs and representatives of the Mujahedeen-e-Khalq opposition group, or MEK, claimed without offering evidence that the diplomat set up the attack on direct orders from Iran’s highest authorities. The National Council of Resistance of Iran is a part of the Mujahedeen-e-Khalq, an exiled Iranian opposition group largely based in Albania and Paris.

The art work is estimated to fetch The art work with an estimates value of 2.2 to 2.8 million euros (US $ 2.6 to 3.4 million), is going on sale Thursday. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)PARIS – A Tintin drawing by the Belgian artist Herge sold Thursday in Paris for 2.6 million euros ($3.1 million), breaking the record for the most expensive comic book art in history. In “Blue Lotus,” Tintin travels to China during the 1931 Japanese invasion with his dog, Snowy, to investigate and expose Japanese spy networks, drug-smuggling rings and other crimes. The record price set at Thursday's sale organized by the Artcurial auction house did not include auction fees. Work by Hergé, whose real name was Georges Remi, previously set the record for the most expensive pieces of comic book art with the front pages of Tintin comic books that also sold for 2.6 million euros, including auction fees.

The art work with an estimates value of 3000 to 5000 euros (US $ 3650 to 6080), is going on sale Thursday. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)PARIS – Not even the coronavirus can get in the way of intrepid Belgian reporter and comic book legend Tintin. Comic book lovers and tourists alike can catch a socially distanced glimpse of a Tintin drawing by Herge in Paris before it goes under the hammer Thursday, estimated to sell between 2 and 3 million euros and possibly break the record for the most expensive comic book art in history. As the name “Blue Lotus” suggests, the art work places Tintin in Asia. On Thursday, Hergé, whose real name was Georges Remi, could break the record for the most expensive piece of comic book art at 2.6 million euros that was previously set by himself.

The Brussels prosecutor’s office confirmed to The Associated Press that police ended a lockdown party in a downtown Brussels flat on Friday evening after they were called because of a night-time disturbance. The office did not confirm that it was a group sex party and a Brussels police spokeswoman declined to comment. In a statement, the prosecutor's office later said police found about 20 people in the apartment. After police checked their identities, two partygoers invoked diplomatic immunity,The prosecutor's office added that a third man was arrested after a passer-by told police he tried to escape. It is possible that he may have been injured while fleeing," the prosecutor's office said, adding that police found drugs in his backpack.

The Belgian military has been called into several hospitals and care homes to alleviate the stress on healthcare personnel. During the first wave of the pandemic during the spring and again now, care homes have been centers of infections and deaths. The overall neglect has been that bad that Amnesty International said last week that authorities “abandoned” thousands of elderly who died in nursing homes during the first spring surge of the pandemic. In all, the region will spend about 410 million euros ($485 million) on pay increases while another 165 million euros ($195 million) will be spent on new staff and improvements in working conditions. Overall in Belgium, 56% of deaths were in hospitals and 43 % were in nursing homes.

An employee of Pipa, a Belgian auction house for racing pigeons, shows a two-year old female pigeon named New Kim after an auction in Knesselare, Belgium, Sunday, Nov. 15, 2020. A wealthy Chinese pigeon racing fan put down a record price of 1.6 million euros ($1.9 million) for the Belgian-bred bird, saying a lot more than merely what kind of money can be made in the once-quaint sport, which seemed destined to decline only a few years back. All 445 birds were put on auction and the overall sale was already pushing past 6 million euros ($7 million). Only a decade ago, the record price for a pigeon stood at one-tenth of New Kim's price. And the news that a pigeon can sell for $1.9 million could prompt new challengers to enter the sport.

The Latest on the effects of the coronavirus outbreak on sports around the world:___Italian soccer club Reggiana says 21 players and six staff members have the coronavirus. The Serie B team’s coach and assistant coach and among those who have tested positive for COVID-19. ___AC Milan goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma and winger Jens Petter Hauge have tested positive for the coronavirus ahead of the team’s Serie A match against Roma. ___A player and a member of the medical staff at Belgian soccer club Anderlecht have tested positive for the coronavirus. Several Anderlecht players had already tested positive for the virus in September.

(Danny Gys, Pool via AP, File)BRUSSELS – Belgium's first transgender politician to reach the higher echelons of government has come under stinging attack from the country's extreme right, only days after she was appointed. The new Belgian government sworn in Saturday includes Green Vice Premier Petra De Sutter, a professor specializing in gynecology and fertility who had been a member of the EU parliament since last year. Even though Homans defended the right of free speech, she added that personally she found Claes' comments "extremely reprehensible." Claes, however, would not back down, saying in another Facebook post that “I don't see the problem. I said that a transgender ... is a transgender."

(AP Photo/Olivier Matthys)HUY – Marc Hirschi extended his stellar run in a breakout cycling season to win the Fleche Wallonne one-day classic on Wednesday. In the women's race earlier, world champion Anna van der Breggen won for the sixth straight time. Four days after claiming the world champion's rainbow jersey, Van der Breggen was able to follow an attack from Demi Vollering on the steep climb to the finish. Vollering ran out of gas in the final meters and Van der Breggen overpowered Cecilie Uttrup-Ludwig to prevail in the sprint. It means a lot," said Van der Breggen.

Belgian Minister of Cooperation Development and Finance, Alexander De Croo speaks during a media conference at the Egmont Palace in Brussels, Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2020. Despite his age, the 44-year-old De Croo is already a veteran in Belgian politics and was vice premier in the outgoing government. He would be the first Dutch-speaking prime minister in nine years. European Council President Charles Michel, a former Belgian prime minister himself, congratulated De Croo and said that “COVID-19 hit us badly, but I count on you and your government to guide us past this challenge." It made compromise politics, an essential element of Belgian politics, even harder.