Modern opera may sound melodramatic and intimidating, but its stories are very relevant to our lives today, composer Iain Bell says about his new show, Medusa, which premiered this week in Brussels Monnaie/Munt: www.brusselstimes.com/art-culture/...

Call it Charles Michel unplugged. In The Brussels Times Magazine, Belgium’s former PM and ex-European Council President lets rip from an office overlooking his old seat of power - and launches a blistering critique of today’s EU leadership www.brusselstimes.com/belgium/2082...

The talk is getting louder. inews.co.uk/news/the-uk-...

"I'm good at language."

Untranslated headlines in German are much clearer than New York Times headlines in English

The first half of this headline has a very, very different energy to the second

Ten years on from the Brussels attacks - this is how I reported the bombs that ripped through the metro and airport. If you were here, you remember the silence, the sirens, the messages that morning. But Brussels endured. And carried on. www.independent.co.uk/news/world/e...

The overbearing fortress built by the Spanish overlords in Antwerp was hated by locals, and it was torn down with glee, as an exhibition at KMSKA reveals. Its legacy includes its footprint under the museum itself.

Have just been disinvited to a briefing with the Iranian ambassador to Belgium, due to inappropriate references (my use of the term 'regime') which "raise serious concerns about your commitment to impartiality and objective reporting." Is that a compliment?

The UK never joined in the Vietnam war. It wasn't anything to do with the US winning (or not...). It was because Britain saw it as wrong.

Opening tomorrow in Ghent: Unforgettable, a major exhibition at the MSK on women artists of the 17th-century Low Countries. More than 150 works reveal how painters, sculptors and lace-makers helped shape the Golden Age - even if art history later forgot them.

"It was a purely defensive move to hit him in the face. Because I knew that he would react when I hit him in the face." www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

Was thrilled to meet Robert Cailliau, the unsung internet pioneer, who was instrumental in the development of the web. Yes, he's Belgian - and he still keeps a model Tintin rocket in his office: www.brusselstimes.com/belgium/1983...

Bill White, the US Ambassador to Belgium, is doubling down on his bid to ensure that local investigators - and politicians - drop oversight of religious circumcision rituals: www.brusselstimes.com/belgium/1983...

✨ The new issue of The Brussels Times Magazine is out! From royal academies to road tunnels, wartime landscapes to distant galaxies, quiet tech pioneers to stubborn institutions – this issue explores how Belgians make sense of a complicated world.

Robert Duvall as Boo Radley, in To Kill A Mockingbird

In these troubled times, it is hard to find fun. So I invite everyone to check out the trailer for Melania. It is, of course, as ludicrous as we might imagine, but the real joy begins in the comments, inexplicably left open: m.youtube.com/watch?v=dxXJ...

I wrote this song on Saturday, recorded it yesterday and released it to you today in response to the state terror being visited on the city of Minneapolis. It’s dedicated to the people of Minneapolis, our innocent immigrant neighbors and in memory of Alex Pretti and Renee Good. Stay free

This year marks ten years since Brexit, a calamity without parallel. There are no benefits to speak of whatsoever. Alas, reversing this disaster will not be easy: inews.co.uk/opinion/you-...

Since Trump returned to the White House, Europe has tried to manage him with patience, flattery and quiet diplomacy. His Greenland threats could be the tipping point. It's not just a crisis for the continent but a seismic shift. Me on the challenges ahead: inews.co.uk/news/world/u...

Europe's far-right keeps rising, using Trump's populist playbook: inews.co.uk/news/world/m...

Dunno about you, but I'm starting to have doubts about the FIFA Peace Prize

This is Saint Jerome with a lion, from whose paw he removed a thorn. It is also me when I work from home with the cat.

Momentum is building within the Labour Party for the UK to rejoin the EU’s customs union. However, it is likely to be much harder than they think: inews.co.uk/news/politic...

What's at stake today as EU leaders meet to figure out how to keep Ukraine going in its grinding war - and whether they can use Russia's frozen assets: inews.co.uk/news/world/m...

EU leaders are meeting today in Brussels for one of the most important summits in years as they try to find billions to fund Ukraine…. …but angry farmers are laying siege to the summit neighbourhood, literally setting up fires and bellyaching about trade deals

UK set to announce return to Erasmus for 2027: inews.co.uk/news/politic...

Revealed: Belgium's controversial Congo sculpture is hiding in plain sight on Jeffrey Epstein’s island – and no one noticed until now. www.brusselstimes.com/belgium/1869...

There are only a few of us with both 🇬🇧 and 🇧🇪 citizenship….but one, Lando Norris, just won the Formula 1 title today: www.bbc.com/sport/formul...

How long can a city function without a government? The Brussels Capital Region has been unable to form an administration since elections in June 2024, a record-breaking 542 days. Bruzz interviewed me on how expats see the impasse: www.bruzz.be/actua/samenl...

Huge congrats to our brilliant beer writer, Breandán Kearney, who has won yet more prizes for his epic features: www.brusselstimes.com/brussels/186...

This is why I don't use title case for headlines

The gargantuan Congo Panorama, unveiled at the 1913 Ghent World Exhibition, might be the biggest painting ever made. But it was a lie, meant to show visitors that the Belgian colonisers were friendly and peaceful - as a new AfricaMuseum exhibition reveals: www.brusselstimes.com/belgium/1855...

✨ The new issue of @brusselstimes.com Magazine is out! From football revolutions to foreign-policy, surreal whodunnits to cemeteries, spies to wine, ultrarunners to Art Nouveau heroes, this small country contains big dramas. Read, roam and stay curious.

Where does Belgium fit in today’s chaotic world – and can it be heard amid the global cacophony? Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot tells me why Belgium still has a voice on Gaza, Trump, Ukraine and the EU. And reveals his go-to karaoke song: www.brusselstimes.com/belgium/1851...

Jimmy Cliff, 1944-2025: www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrHx...

Happy Halloween! 🎃🦇🔪 www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjwQ...

Huge Home Office backlogs, seriously overcrowded accommodation, and increasingly polarised political debate has led to nationwide protests Hugo Gye, @leocendro.bsky.social, @dannyshaw.bsky.social and Ben Witham give their verdicts on how to fix the asylum crisis: trib.al/oNRdtBZ

We need more of these pics

The latest @BrusselsTimes.com Magazine is out now 🇧🇪🐾 Animals – wild, domestic, mythical – have always been part of the Belgian story. For this issue, we hear them bark, purr, moo and tweet. Cover art by @lectrr.bsky.social

Robert Redford, 1936-2025

In this chaotic and scary world, we need good news stories. Today, US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was at the Port of Antwerp, with Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever. Noem was introduced to one of the port's Malinois dogs. The good news? The dog still lives.

The French Revolution perfected the art of swift political justice with the guillotine. The blade is parliamentary rather than steel, but France’s embattled PM Bayrou will feel it on Monday when he face a confidence vote in the National Assembly: inews.co.uk/news/world/f...

Until the next time, #Tirana

Rock on Ksamil beach in Albania looks like a face

Smoke from wildfire in Delvina, Albania rising behind Saranda. Corfu is on the left.

Smoke from wildfire in Delvina, Albania rising behind Saranda. Corfu is on the left.

Fires spread across the mountains near Saranda, Albania

Fascinated by the relief carvings - attributed to Renaissance sculptor Tullio Lombardo - around Saint Anthony’s tomb in Padua