This was to be expected - after cutting support to pro-democracy civil society last year, the US state is now looking to actively support far-right affiliated think tanks and charities in Europe.

The Epstein files leak has revealed former White House strategist Steve Bannon claiming the fall of the Belgian Government in 2018.

"Restrictions on addictive features would hurt their profits and power." – Olivier Hoedeman, coordinator at @corporateeurope.org and author of the report, told The Brussels Times. Waiting for a response from @ec.europa.eu

15 people have been killed in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro after a Russian drone struck a bus carrying mineworkers, emergency services say.

The Trump administration approves new arms sales to Israel worth $6.67 billion as tensions heat up in the Middle East over Iran.

Hospitals in Gaza say Israeli strikes killed at least 12 Palestinians, one of the highest tolls since an October agreement aimed at stopping the fighting.

#Belgium. #Belgique, #Bruxelles, #Brussels, #Ixelles, #Flagey, #INR, #reflets Ancienne Maison de la Radio, place Flagey à Ixelles (région de Bruxelles-Capitale)

The Brussels-Capital Region has been without a government for 600 days as of today, breaking all of the country's infamous records. What do residents of the city stuck in a political limbo think about the political deadlock?

#Tech & #RuleofLaw: #US tech giant #Amazon finally faces #EU lawmakers over warehouse conditions, by @ugorealfonzo.bsky.social | The Brussels Times www.brusselstimes.com/belgium/1941...

"From the obliteration of every university in Gaza to the daily strangulation of academic life in the West Bank, this is an assault on a people’s past, present, and future" www.ohchr.org/en/press-rel...

Located just outside of Brussels, Horst Arts & Music festival is slowly becoming one of Europe's most hyped up parties as it announces the line-up for 2026.

"We are under constant pressure from management, always monitored: we are always being asked to increase productivity." – French Amazon warehouse worker told me yesterday. Comments from @leilachaibi.bsky.social and Amazon, which claims to be a victim of a false narrative

I worked alongside Steve in the Reuters Rome bureau. This is his story of hard work doesn’t protect you from hard times. stevescherer.substack.com/p/my-journey...

Stamp set with Belgian trains to mark the centenary of the Belgian railway company. (Belgian state railways got started in 1834, this is the centenary of successor company established in September 1926) The B logo was designed by architect Henry van de Velde in 1936.

The Schuman roundabout is now a parking sauvage for summit police, behind a line of barbed wire stretching 200 metres. Yet more grey blocks of stone and concrete await installation. Hard to imagine a drearier prospect as it nears (?) completion.

“Early this morning, Israeli forces stormed the UNRWA Headquarters, a United Nations site, in East Jerusalem.” Statement by UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini: www.unrwa.org/newsroom/off...

I did not have De Wever quoting Gramsci on my scorecard for 2026

De Wever plans to confront the US President in Wednesday's scheduled meeting and tell his administration to "start behaving like an ally".

The Flemish liberal party Anders (the new name of Open VLD), which refused to take part in negotiations, is being pointed to as the culprit for the latest failure.

Learning about Brussels' government in the least effective way possible

By @972mag.com / @972mag.bsky.social: "TODAY: #Israeli authorities demolish the #UNRWA headquarters in #Jerusalem. Videos by Oren Ziv." www.threads.com/@972mag/post... #EastJerusalem #Jerusalem #Israel #IsraelNews #MiddleEast #MiddleEastNews #News #Palestine #PalestineNews #UN #WorldNews #Zionism

Also a sign of the times - the European Parliament's plenary debate today is officially called "Greenland: the need for a united EU response to _US blackmail_ attempts". A language usually reserved for Russia or China.

Time to stop appeasing bullies who only see strength and power, argues the MEP driving the European Parliament's position on Greenland.

🇺🇸 US President Donald Trump has escalated his quest to acquire Greenland, threatening multiple European nations with tariffs of up to 25 percent until his purchase of the Danish territory is achieved. ➡️ u.afp.com/SB4G

This may come as a shock, a disappointment or a blessed relief to you, but this will be my final Belgium in Brief.

Meta, Microsoft and Google are all coordinating with the European far right in order to dismantle EU digital laws designed to protect citizens, according to a new report. The recent 🇺🇸NSS strategy outlined regime change plans to support the European far right. A public-private partnership.

"The Commission’s deregulation agenda is not just opening the door to Big Tech, it's inviting the far-right in," says @bramvranken.bsky.social New article on the report by @corporateeurope.org and LobbyControl with comments from @ec.europa.eu, who deny the claims.

Trump’s former Deputy NSA and wife of Republican Senator Dave McCormick.

Members of the Abraham Lincoln battalion returning to the USA on board the President Harding on 31 December 1938. Almost 700 Americans never returned from fight against Franco. As the old song goes, "There's a place in Spain called Jarama..."

A qualified majority of member states approved the deal, with Belgium abstaining.

Just over a year after its closure, 3,414 Audi workers will now have the chance to retrain and seek new jobs.

Despite domestic and EU scandals, Belgium’s efforts to prevent corruption among government and law enforcement officials is falling well short of expectations.

Again @teresaribera.ec.europa.eu takes the lead in @ec.europa.eu in denouncing Trump's outrages bsky.app/profile/tere...

Sudan’s civil war continued in 2024 and 4.3m people have fled the violence. Most remain in neighbouring countries in East Africa, but funding cuts are limiting aid, prompting some to move onward via Libya toward Europe. data.unhcr.org/en/situation...

Literally no mention in the mainstream news of the 5th Anniversary of Trump supporters attempting to violently overthrow the U.S Government.

Joint statement just released by 🇫🇷🇩🇪🇮🇹🇪🇸🇬🇧🇵🇱🇩🇰 It insists that it is only for 🇩🇰🇬🇱 to decide Greenland's future. It says 🇺🇸 should respect "sovereignty, territorial integrity and the inviolability of borders" in the Arctic. But it does not say what they will do if 🇺🇸 doesn't.

You'd never know fireworks were banned in Brussels. Happy new year everyone!

The big Christmas Day premiere. My article on Jean Delhaye, the saviour of Brussels art nouveau, has arrived online. Better than Paddington in Peru. www.brusselstimes.com/belgium/1892...

"I want them to come and see that all this really happened."

EU Commission response to US sanctions imposed upon advocates of regulating social media ec.europa.eu/commission/p...

Dutch Green MEP Bas Eickhour denounces 🇪🇺President von der Leyen to her face on 🇪🇺Parliament. "You are serving the Trumpist agenda," he tells her. "We put away our dependency on Russian gas, but we've exchanged it for dependency on American gas. We've only made ourselves more dependent on 🇺🇸."

Some good news: UK rejoins Erasmus

A nightlife crisis symbolic of wider problems in the Belgian capital.

🚨🚨This is worse than we could have imagined: Full version of #Trump's national #securitystrategy reportedly calls for “pulling Poland away from #EU”. 🧵 notesfrompoland.com/2025/12/10/f...

A group of European leaders want to modify the interpretation of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) to deport migrants who commit a serious crime.

Trying to make sense of this historic week and what it means for the future of Europe.

Allies must act as allies. We must respect each other's sovereignty. Europeans do not share the same vision as the Americans on various issues. This is natural. What we cannot accept is the threat of interference in Europe’s democratic life.

BREAKING: A group of soldiers has appeared on Benin’s state TV announcing the dissolution of the government in an apparent coup, the latest of many in West Africa.

Monday's meeting of Starmer, Macron and Merz could turn out to be even more important because of the US national security strategy. They need to decide whether to say in public what they are thinking in private: that the threat is no longer just Putin, it's also Trump

🚨 Explosive report by Bloomberg: The US has lobbied “several” EU countries to derail the reparations loan for Ukraine, arguing the Russian assets are needed to achieve a peace deal and shouldn’t be used to “prolong the war”.