Provides the latest RSS feeds for Belgium News. For more headlines on Breaking, National, Business, Finance, Sports and World News, visit our home page Europe Sun.com http://www.europesun.com/index.php/cat/4b6f350e555d4ecd/ en-us Wed, 22 May 2013 20:12:12 -0400 Wed, 22 May 2013 20:12:12 -0400 30 /enpproperty--> No political party in the German Parliament supports Brussels' decision to levy punitive tariffs against China's exports of solar panels, a German politician said. Hans-Josef Fell, a senior member of the Bundestag, the German Parliament, admitted Germany and the European Commission hold conflicting positions on the issue. Speaking before Premier Li Keqiang's ... http://www.europesun.com/index.php/sid/214700630/scat/4b6f350e555d4ecd Wed, 22 May 2013 18:46:16 -0400 http://www.europesun.com/index.php/sid/214700630/scat/4b6f350e555d4ecd Belgium China's Zheng Jie knocked top seed Caroline Wozniacki out of the Brussels Open just hours after prevailing in a three-set opener held over because of Tuesday's heavy rain.Zheng, the world number 51, eased past the Dane 6-2, 6-4 to reach the quarter-finals.After Tuesday's washout, 10 first round matches were yet to finish, with all eight second-round matches also on the ... http://www.europesun.com/index.php/sid/214700631/scat/4b6f350e555d4ecd Wed, 22 May 2013 18:43:46 -0400 http://www.europesun.com/index.php/sid/214700631/scat/4b6f350e555d4ecd Top seed Caroline Wozniacki was bundled out of the Brussels Open by China's Jie Zheng on Wednesday.Wozniacki's preparations for the French Open - which starts at Roland Garros next week - took a blow with the surprise defeat, which came in straight sets at the WTA Premier event.The unseeded Zheng was dominant throughout the contest, which lasted exactly 100 minutes, winning herself 15 ... http://www.europesun.com/index.php/sid/214700796/scat/4b6f350e555d4ecd Wed, 22 May 2013 18:17:03 -0400 http://www.europesun.com/index.php/sid/214700796/scat/4b6f350e555d4ecd Caroline Wozniacki , at the WTA Brussels Open. Weather earlier in the week forced a crowded 18-match card for Wednesday, with several players forced to play twice so the tournament could end on schedule Saturday. However, the final second-round match of the day will have to be completed Thursday, as ... http://www.europesun.com/index.php/sid/214697897/scat/4b6f350e555d4ecd Wed, 22 May 2013 16:01:20 -0400 http://www.europesun.com/index.php/sid/214697897/scat/4b6f350e555d4ecd EU leaders agreed Wednesday to face up to the challenge posed by the shale oil and gas revolution which has slashed US energy prices, undercutting Europe's competitive edge. "All leaders are aware that sustainable and affordable energy is key to keeping factories and jobs in Europe," European President Herman Van Rompuy said. "Industry finds it hard to compete with foreign ... http://www.europesun.com/index.php/sid/214696452/scat/4b6f350e555d4ecd Wed, 22 May 2013 15:06:00 -0400 http://www.europesun.com/index.php/sid/214696452/scat/4b6f350e555d4ecd news ) operators in France, Nordics push down prices for all * Study compared smartphone tariffs in 27 countries PARIS, May 22 (Reuters) - Smartphone users in European countries served only by large groups such as Vodafone Group Plc and Telefonica SA pay twice as much for services as consumers in more competitive markets with an independent "challenger" operator, according to ... http://www.europesun.com/index.php/sid/214696562/scat/4b6f350e555d4ecd Wed, 22 May 2013 15:05:54 -0400 http://www.europesun.com/index.php/sid/214696562/scat/4b6f350e555d4ecd Brian De Mulder dreamed of being a professional footballer. His favorite team was continental powerhouse FC Barcelona and he sought to emulate its Argentine superstar Leo Messi, proudly wearing "10 on the back of his jersey. He had started playing the game at the age of six andgrew into a talented attacker. He planned to make a life of it. Two years ago, Brian, then 17, was among several ... http://www.europesun.com/index.php/sid/214696563/scat/4b6f350e555d4ecd Wed, 22 May 2013 15:05:42 -0400 http://www.europesun.com/index.php/sid/214696563/scat/4b6f350e555d4ecd Wed May 22, 2013 3:01pm EDT * Austria to end bank secrecy for foreigners this year * Merkel says EU information exchange 'enormous step' * Luxembourg's Juncker says wants to see Swiss deal first (Adds Juncker, Faymann, Merkel comment, graphic link, detail) By John O'Donnell and Martin Santa BRUSSELS, May 22 (Reuters) - Europe edged closer to lifting banking secrecy on Wednesday ... http://www.europesun.com/index.php/sid/214697816/scat/4b6f350e555d4ecd Wed, 22 May 2013 15:01:57 -0400 http://www.europesun.com/index.php/sid/214697816/scat/4b6f350e555d4ecd Belgium's emergency and security services are to receive their first mobile 3G network through a contract with Astrium of France. Astrium said it is providing its Blue Light Mobile system to ASTRID, Belgium's mobile telecommunications network operator for police forces and firefighters, national defense organizations and other emergency services. The contract is for five years, ... http://www.europesun.com/index.php/sid/214696462/scat/4b6f350e555d4ecd Wed, 22 May 2013 14:49:14 -0400 http://www.europesun.com/index.php/sid/214696462/scat/4b6f350e555d4ecd (AP Photo/Ezequiel Scagnetti). European Council President Herman Van Rompuy smiles as he faces the cameras upon arrival at an EU summit in Brussels on Wednesday, May 22, ... http://www.europesun.com/index.php/sid/214694946/scat/4b6f350e555d4ecd Wed, 22 May 2013 13:53:51 -0400 http://www.europesun.com/index.php/sid/214694946/scat/4b6f350e555d4ecd There were few problems for the other seeded players on Wednesday, fourth seed Sloane Stephens completed her delayed match against Tsvetana Pironkova with a 6-3 2-6 6-3 win and seventh seed Varvara Lepchenko thrashed Britain's Elena Baltacha 6-2 6-0. Fifth seeded Belgian Kirsten Flipkens also came through despite dropping the second set against American Madison Keys and there were more ... http://www.europesun.com/index.php/sid/214694947/scat/4b6f350e555d4ecd Wed, 22 May 2013 13:53:39 -0400 http://www.europesun.com/index.php/sid/214694947/scat/4b6f350e555d4ecd Wed May 22, 2013 1:52pm EDT * Europe looking at how to exploit its shale gas reserves * EU gas prices around four times higher than in the U.S. * EU also debates single energy market, efficiency By Barbara Lewis and Peter Griffiths BRUSSELS, May 22 (Reuters) - European leaders discussed the region's reserves of shale gas at a summit on Wednesday, but the prospect of the continent enjoying a ... http://www.europesun.com/index.php/sid/214696455/scat/4b6f350e555d4ecd Wed, 22 May 2013 13:52:55 -0400 http://www.europesun.com/index.php/sid/214696455/scat/4b6f350e555d4ecd Wed May 22, 2013 12:40pm EDT * European leaders want to end aggressive tax avoidance * EU losing up to 1 trillion euros a year to tax evasion, avoidance * OECD report urges EU to tackle tax arbitrage by companies * Apple, Amazon, Google among corporations in the spotlight By Luke Baker BRUSSELS, May 22 (Reuters) - Britain, France and Germany called for stricter rules to stop companies such as ... http://www.europesun.com/index.php/sid/214694517/scat/4b6f350e555d4ecd Wed, 22 May 2013 12:40:58 -0400 http://www.europesun.com/index.php/sid/214694517/scat/4b6f350e555d4ecd View Comments BRUSSELS, - The European Union is willing to deepen trade ties with China but wants to see concessions from Beijing first, documents seen by Reuters showed. At the same time as EU regulators are ramping up trade pressure on Beijing by threatening duties on solar panels and telecoms equipment, Brussels is dangling the carrot of trade agreements before the Chinese. The European ... http://www.europesun.com/index.php/sid/214693312/scat/4b6f350e555d4ecd Wed, 22 May 2013 12:39:01 -0400 http://www.europesun.com/index.php/sid/214693312/scat/4b6f350e555d4ecd BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy on Wednesday said the country's banks may have to raise capital on the financial markets to meet higher provisioning ... http://www.europesun.com/index.php/sid/214692773/scat/4b6f350e555d4ecd Wed, 22 May 2013 12:35:07 -0400 http://www.europesun.com/index.php/sid/214692773/scat/4b6f350e555d4ecd Each year the Flemish government runs a check on its progress towards positioning itself among the top five regions in Europe by 2020 when their research unit compares the government’s achievements with the examples set by the other fifteen top achievers in Europe. According to the most recent report, the Flemish region withstood the banking crisis better than the other regions. With the ... http://www.europesun.com/index.php/sid/214691684/scat/4b6f350e555d4ecd Wed, 22 May 2013 11:24:11 -0400 http://www.europesun.com/index.php/sid/214691684/scat/4b6f350e555d4ecd An increasing number of Flemish producers of fiction series are discovering distant shores. Following in the wake of Flemish film, television series are geared to conquer the international arena. Series like De matroesjkas VTM and Vermist VT4, Vier have firmly established themselves on the international scene with sales in 51 and 91 countries respectively. Salamander, the Saturday series on ... http://www.europesun.com/index.php/sid/214691685/scat/4b6f350e555d4ecd Wed, 22 May 2013 11:24:10 -0400 http://www.europesun.com/index.php/sid/214691685/scat/4b6f350e555d4ecd Subsidies to social economy companies will come to an end by the middle of next year when the decree on customized work will be introduced and funds diverted directly to employees. Works minister Freya Van Den Bossche SP.A has received the go-ahead for this profound reform from her colleagues in the Flemish government. The decree on customized work stipulates that Flemish government subsidies ... http://www.europesun.com/index.php/sid/214691686/scat/4b6f350e555d4ecd Wed, 22 May 2013 11:24:09 -0400 http://www.europesun.com/index.php/sid/214691686/scat/4b6f350e555d4ecd A strong field has assembled for the five-stage race and a bunch sprint finish in Knokke-Heist saw the Lotto-Belisol sprinter beat Tom Boonen (Omega Pharma QuickStep) and Ramon Sinkeldam (Argos-Shimano) to the line. A pancake flat 194.2km stage from Lochristi saw an early break featuring Alphonse Vermote, Pieter Uyttersprot, Laurens De Vreese and Olivier Chevalier. But they were not allowed a ... http://www.europesun.com/index.php/sid/214690079/scat/4b6f350e555d4ecd Wed, 22 May 2013 10:13:26 -0400 http://www.europesun.com/index.php/sid/214690079/scat/4b6f350e555d4ecd Oracle Financial slips after setting OFS price at a discount The promoter of the company plans to sell 4.43 million equity shares at a floor price of Rs 2,275 per share ... http://www.europesun.com/index.php/sid/214690078/scat/4b6f350e555d4ecd Wed, 22 May 2013 10:13:26 -0400 http://www.europesun.com/index.php/sid/214690078/scat/4b6f350e555d4ecd Consumer confidence in Belgium improved for the second straight month in May, survey data from the National Bank of Belgium showed on Wednesday. The consumer confidence indicator climbed to -19 from -20 in April and -24 in March. The latest score is the strongest since -17 in February. All components showed signs of improvement, albeit modest, in May. The index reflecting economic expectations ... http://www.europesun.com/index.php/sid/214690077/scat/4b6f350e555d4ecd Wed, 22 May 2013 10:13:26 -0400 http://www.europesun.com/index.php/sid/214690077/scat/4b6f350e555d4ecd 02/05/2013 19:21 CET European leaders gathered in Brussels on Wednesday, to discuss ways of tackling tax evasion and avoidance. Investigations in Britain, France and the US have exposed how little tax major companies have been paying, through careful structuring of their European operations. A probe revealed on Monday that Apple had paid just two percent tax on 57 billion euros in overseas ... http://www.europesun.com/index.php/sid/214689942/scat/4b6f350e555d4ecd Wed, 22 May 2013 10:04:50 -0400 http://www.europesun.com/index.php/sid/214689942/scat/4b6f350e555d4ecd OTTAWA - Conservative senators have sent Mike Duffy's controversial improper expenses back to the same closed-door committee that initially reviewed them, ... http://www.europesun.com/index.php/sid/214688579/scat/4b6f350e555d4ecd Wed, 22 May 2013 08:56:22 -0400 http://www.europesun.com/index.php/sid/214688579/scat/4b6f350e555d4ecd news ) rise by as much as 5 percent to make them the biggest gainer in Brussels as the company benefits from demand for LPG transport from the United States. "In the LPG division, spot market rates have recently increased significantly," says KBC Securities analyst Wouter Vanderhaeghen. "There are increased exports of LPG out of the U.S. and that is driving LPG market rates ... http://www.europesun.com/index.php/sid/214688580/scat/4b6f350e555d4ecd Wed, 22 May 2013 08:55:50 -0400 http://www.europesun.com/index.php/sid/214688580/scat/4b6f350e555d4ecd named after Olympic gold-medalist Usain Bolt , is expected to be used for breeding more birds. Nine of the 10 most expensive pigeons sold at the auction were paid for by buyers ... http://www.europesun.com/index.php/sid/214688581/scat/4b6f350e555d4ecd Wed, 22 May 2013 08:55:47 -0400 http://www.europesun.com/index.php/sid/214688581/scat/4b6f350e555d4ecd Brussels - The European Council, which will be meet in Brussels on Wednesday, May 22, will consider the development of Europe's energy potential and the improvement of taxation in the European Union, European Council President Herman Van Rompuy has said in an invitation letter."The aim of this European Council is to set the direction for future work on two issues of crucial importance ... http://www.europesun.com/index.php/sid/214683977/scat/4b6f350e555d4ecd Wed, 22 May 2013 04:22:12 -0400 http://www.europesun.com/index.php/sid/214683977/scat/4b6f350e555d4ecd Concern at aggressive tax avoidance by some of the biggest global corporations looks set to sit high on the agenda at Wednesday’s European summit in Brussels. Britain and France have pushed the issue. On Monday so did the president of the EU Commission. ';The total of loss of revenue due to illegal and unacceptable evasion is estimated to be around one trillion euros a year. ... http://www.europesun.com/index.php/sid/214682696/scat/4b6f350e555d4ecd Wed, 22 May 2013 03:07:33 -0400 http://www.europesun.com/index.php/sid/214682696/scat/4b6f350e555d4ecd Ireland's tax laws will come under the spotlight again today when the Taoiseach attends a European Council meeting in Brussels.The talks follow the publication yesterday of a report by the US Senate which claims that Ireland's tax laws enabled the tech giant Apple to avoid paying billions of dollars in tax.Enda Kenny denied the claim in the Dil and said that Ireland doesn't ... http://www.europesun.com/index.php/sid/214682797/scat/4b6f350e555d4ecd Wed, 22 May 2013 03:06:16 -0400 http://www.europesun.com/index.php/sid/214682797/scat/4b6f350e555d4ecd BRUSSELS | Wed May 22, 2013 2:59am EDT BRUSSELS May 22 (Reuters) - Belgium's power grid operator Elia would consider buying stakes in Dutch grid firm TenneT and French operator RTE, owned by state-controlled electricity company EDF, a spokeswoman said on Wednesday. "They are really in same market zone as Elia, since they are neighbouring countries this makes it interesting ... http://www.europesun.com/index.php/sid/214683884/scat/4b6f350e555d4ecd Wed, 22 May 2013 02:59:35 -0400 http://www.europesun.com/index.php/sid/214683884/scat/4b6f350e555d4ecd Top Chinese legislator Zhang Dejiang on Tuesday met with Belgian Parliament Speaker Andre Flahaut in Beijing.Zhang, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), the country's top legislature, reviewed the growth of China-Belgium relations, citing deepened political trust, expanded pragmatic cooperation and friendly exchanges between the NPC and the Belgian ... http://www.europesun.com/index.php/sid/214677970/scat/4b6f350e555d4ecd Tue, 21 May 2013 21:42:52 -0400 http://www.europesun.com/index.php/sid/214677970/scat/4b6f350e555d4ecd Hezbollah 's military sector a terrorist organization. The request, which is scheduled to be informally discussed at an EU meeting in Brussels Wednesday, and officially taken up on June 4, could open the way for sanctions to curtail Hezbollah activity in Europe if successful, the British newspaper The Financial Times reported Tuesday. Motivated by an investigation that blamed Hezbollah for ... http://www.europesun.com/index.php/sid/214674363/scat/4b6f350e555d4ecd Tue, 21 May 2013 17:43:38 -0400 http://www.europesun.com/index.php/sid/214674363/scat/4b6f350e555d4ecd "ICT Market Report 2012/13 Belgium/Luxembourg" report to their offering. This report provides the reader with an intimate understanding of the development and trends of the ICT market of Belgium/Luxembourg. The bi-annual European Information Technology Observatory (EITO) market reports have built a strong reputation as indispensible source of information for marketing, ... http://www.europesun.com/index.php/sid/214669796/scat/4b6f350e555d4ecd Tue, 21 May 2013 15:36:06 -0400 http://www.europesun.com/index.php/sid/214669796/scat/4b6f350e555d4ecd World champion Philippe Gilbert chases his first victory of the season as a strong field gets set to begin the five stage Tour of Belgium on Wednesday. The BMC team leader pulled out of last week's Tour of California to attend the birth of his second child but will line up for his home race in optimistic mood with the final stage suited to his climbing skills over the route used for the one ... http://www.europesun.com/index.php/sid/214669795/scat/4b6f350e555d4ecd Tue, 21 May 2013 15:36:04 -0400 http://www.europesun.com/index.php/sid/214669795/scat/4b6f350e555d4ecd BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union is willing to deepen trade ties with China but wants to see concessions from Beijing first, documents seen by Reuters on Tuesday ... http://www.europesun.com/index.php/sid/214669263/scat/4b6f350e555d4ecd Tue, 21 May 2013 15:32:01 -0400 http://www.europesun.com/index.php/sid/214669263/scat/4b6f350e555d4ecd Reuters © Men are silhouetted against a video screen with an Apple logo as they pose with an Apple iPhone 4 smartphone in this photo illustration taken in the central Bosnian town of Zenica, May 17, 2013. REUTERS/Dado ... http://www.europesun.com/index.php/sid/214668897/scat/4b6f350e555d4ecd Tue, 21 May 2013 14:46:23 -0400 http://www.europesun.com/index.php/sid/214668897/scat/4b6f350e555d4ecd will add more air freight capacity to and from Brussels, starting June 6.In addition to the MD-11 freighter service between Helsinki and Brussels on Saturdays and Sundays, Finnair's passenger flight to and from Brussels on Thursday mornings will now be flown with an Airbus A340 aircraft."This enables us to offer fast transport between Central Europe and Asia also for large ... http://www.europesun.com/index.php/sid/214665216/scat/4b6f350e555d4ecd Tue, 21 May 2013 13:18:58 -0400 http://www.europesun.com/index.php/sid/214665216/scat/4b6f350e555d4ecd An expert report on Tuesday pinned the blame on a Belgian bus driver for a crash in a Swiss alpine tunnel in March last year which left 22 children and six adults dead.The report, made public by the prosecutor's office in the Swiss canton of Valais, concluded that the 34-year-old driver, who died in the crash, had lost control of the bus either due to a lapse in attention or some kind of ... http://www.europesun.com/index.php/sid/214665953/scat/4b6f350e555d4ecd Tue, 21 May 2013 12:59:39 -0400 http://www.europesun.com/index.php/sid/214665953/scat/4b6f350e555d4ecd